Denver Broncos young offense will be tested without offseason
The Denver Broncos have expectations this season. The truncated offseason isn’t helping.
Denver is one of the more fascinating teams to watch in 2020, having added significant talent to an already intriguing roster. General manager John Elway liked what he saw out of rookie quarterback Drew Lock in his five starts last season and provided ample support this winter, adding rookie receivers K.J. Hamler and Jerry Jeudy to pair with star veteran Courtland Sutton.
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Elway also added running back Melvin Gordon on a two-year deal to play alongside Phillip Lindsay. Looking at the depth chart, the Denver Broncos has a chance to be quite explosive.
However, challenges abound. Hamler and Jeudy have never played an NFL snap, let alone taken part in a practice. Gordon is a vet, but he’s coming into a new situation and learning a new system. Lock was with the team last year, but could have used a full offseason and instead got nothing. It’s going to be a rush to create chemistry, especially since teams won’t put pads on until mid-August as the league ramps up training camps.
Wisely, Elway understands the hurdles for his young clubs and expects a bit of a learning curve. Per the team’s official website:
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“We’re very young on the offensive side. With the way training camp is set up, I always remember as a rookie it was important for me to see other helmets and not just Bronco helmets, but to see other helmets to get used to and realize, hey, they are now in the NFL. With our young team, that doesn’t help us.
“I was hoping for a couple preseason games just because we are so young on the offensive side to get to see somebody else. We’re going to have to deal with it. Today’s world is adjusting, so we’ll adjust to that. The mature kids will come in and do everything they can to get up to speed, but again, they’re going to be young guys without an offseason program. We definitely have to give them some rope and temper it a little bit and take it one practice at a time.”
