Broncos' young core has been impressive but the offense is still missing one crucial piece

The Broncos' young core of talent on the offensive side of the ball have been impressive thus far but there's still something missing.

Don’t look now, but the Denver Broncos have a young and exciting offensive core starting to emerge. Despite the issues in sustaining drives, finishing with points, and of course, winning games, the Broncos' offense is beginning to spit out sparks and show signs that a full, roaring fire might be closer than many would think. 

At the end of the day, it's about putting up points and winning football games, but taking a step back and looking at the young talent the Broncos have emerging on offense should give the organization hope of good things to come.

For the Broncos' offense, the real hope for young emerging talent is, of course, the running back position. With the likes of 2018 third-round draft pick Royce Freeman and undrafted Pro Bowler Phillip Lindsay splitting a majority of the workload, Denver has secured itself a nice one-two punch through at least 2022. 

While the two running backs accumulated a lot of carries in college, both have yet to show any signs of wear and tear and have been flashing in both the run game and, perhaps more importantly, the receiving game.

However, neither Freeman or Lindsay are great receiving backs yet. Being split out, running clean routes, hauling in the ball cleanly and efficiently while transitioning from route runner to ball-carrier is still a work in progress. 

However, given their usage in the pass game through three games, they both will get ample opportunities to show they can continue to improve in this facet and become even more dynamic weapons for the Broncos. As the offensive line continues to gel with new starters under new OL coach Mike Munchak, expect both backs to start hitting bigger runs. If there is one thing this offense needs from those two, it’s explosive run plays and gaining chunk yardage.

Dark Knight Risner

Speaking of the offensive line, the Broncos look like they found themselves a good player in 2019 second-rounder Dalton Risner. While he has had his ups and downs as a rookie, especially in Week 2 against a very formidable Chicago Bears defensive front, Risner has been playing well and has been one of the better more consistent players on the Broncos' offensive line. 

Impressive for a rookie. There has been some talk of Risner playing tackle, but that seems rather silly given that his skill-set, technique, and athletic prototype fit perfectly for the Broncos along the interior.

From solid functional athleticism out in space, to strength to anchor against defenders pushing into his chest, to balance and hand fighting in pass protection, to literally picking up and tossing Lindsay into the end zone last week, Risner looks like a potential ‘here for a decade’ type of player on the Broncos' offensive line. 

Considering the constant turnover on that unit in recent years, having at least one position ‘set’ (left guard) is a sigh of relief. The futures of Garett Bolles, Connor McGovern, and Ronald Leary may be up in the air, but Munchak has to be happy in at least having one spot squared away going forward. 

Risner is a guy you can build around upfront. Perhaps McGovern, who has been improving week by week at center, is one the team may look to bring back to keep some continuity upfront, but that’s for another article at a later date.

Sutton-ly showing signs of life

GM John Elway has a history of flopping on second-round picks. However, perhaps it’s time to buck that narrative. Drafting Dalton Risner in the 2019 draft was great, but perhaps playing just as well is the Broncos’ 2018 second-rounder Courtland Sutton. After a bit of an up and down rookie season, followed by what was seemingly a down training camp and preseason, Sutton has been arguably the Broncos' best offensive weapon through three games.

The X receiver has been showing much better in and out of his breaks, creating separation outside the hash marks and over the middle of the field, and looks like a much more complete player this season. Hauling in 16 receptions for 247 yards and 15.4 yards per reception, Sutton is emerging as a true ‘go-to’ guy for this offense. 

Furthermore, with his size and tenacity, Sutton is showing he can make some plays after the catch as well, averaging 5.2 yards after the catch per reception. While Sutton will never be a true speed threat, he can emerge into a low-end WR1 or high-end WR2 for any NFL offense.

His size, ability to play above the rim, beat press as well as any young wide receiver in the game, are all valued skills on top of his early-season signs of improvement. Given that this very well could be Emmanuel Sanders' last season in Denver, the Broncos could use one of DaeSean Hamilton or Juwann Winfree to emerge as well to solidify the wide receivers, but having the X wide receiver position set is a nice spot to be in for the Broncos offensively.

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You Fant always get what you want

Perhaps the most maligned but promising young player on the Broncos' offense is that of rookie first-round tight end Noah Fant. Despite getting blown up in a one-on-one blocking situation versus Khalil Mack and his fumble this past Sunday, Fant is right on schedule for what anyone with realistic expectations should have had from the 20th overall selection. 

Through three games, Fant is on pace to finish the 2019 season with 48 receptions for 528 yards. That is really good for a rookie tight end.

Considering tight end is probably the second-hardest position for a rookie player to come and perform, behind the quarterback position, Fant is doing just fine. Tight ends are absolutely swamped with information when entering the NFL, having to learn the blocking techniques and schemes like an offensive tackle, while also learning the route tree and nuance of a wide receiver. 

It can be daunting and is typically why it takes one to two full seasons before tight ends emerge from college to the NFL. Even future Hall of Famers such as Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates, and even Jimmy Graham, had less than 45 catches and 550 yards receiving their rookie seasons in the NFL. 

Each took a massive step forward their second seasons, though. Fant is right where he should be as a rookie in receptions and yardage, and hopefully, the red zone ability shows out soon. Considering the Broncos as a whole are stinking it up in the red zone at the moment, coupled with Fant’s red zone prowess in college, the team could really use that his propensity for putting points on the board.

Tackle a work in progress

Of course, the Broncos' offense isn’t where it needs to be just yet. The tackle position has been dreadful through three games as Garett Bolles is struggling with penalties and pass blocking and Elijah Wilkinson, filling in for Ja’Wuan James, looks to be athletically overmatched on the outside and seems like a guard miscast as a tackle currently. 

Tackle is likely to be a very high priority come the 2020 offseason. The young wide receivers, outside of Courtland Sutton, have yet to show much of anything. Hamilton seems to be getting open but isn’t targeted much (perhaps it has something to do with his dropped touchdown pass in Week 1). 

Still, Hamilton is a rather limited player in terms of explosiveness either down the field or after the catch and might be better suited as more of a rotational piece at receiver anyway.

That crucial component still missing

On top of the offensive line and weapons, the quarterback is the one key to making it all work. Without a franchise-caliber quarterback, it really won’t matter how good the weapons are or how good the line is performing. 

A quarterback either helps take the team to the next level, or holds them back. Flacco is playing fine but he obviously isn’t elevating the unit, nor does he appear to be the long-term answer. Drew Lock? Who knows at this point, but if the Broncos continue to flounder, he is going to see his way to the field sooner rather than later. The quarterback is king, and Denver must find their guy if they have any hopes of competing.

The Broncos' offense has been moving the ball and controlling the clock through 2019 so far, ranking second in time of possession, first in plays, and sixth in yards. However, despite these positive signs of life, the offense is just 24th in points. Something will have to give, but the signs of life are there. 

The Takeaway

Whether the offense really starts to gel under the new system with so many pieces going forward in 2019 or beyond, the young emerging offensive core of Royce Freeman, Phillip Lindsay, Dalton Risner, Courtland Sutton, and Noah Fant should have Broncos Country excited for the team’s prospects of scoring point and playing exciting offensive football in the near future.

Follow Nick on Twitter @NickKendellMHH and @MileHighHuddle.