As we finish up the AFC West, we focus in on possibly the most disappointing preseason hype In the NFL. The Denver Broncos. Granted the division was touted as one of the toughest with 4 high profile QBs in Mahomes, Herbert, Carr and Wilson battling it out and NFL weapons on every team and on both sides of the ball. What nobody expected was the season that Denver ultimately put together. Finishing last in the west with a 5-12 record and dead last in the NFL in points per game with 16.9 and third down conversion percentage at 29.1%. The question became was this a coaching or player personnel problem. Eventually the front office must have determined the former was the issue as head coach Nathanial Hackett made it just under one season and was let go December 26th after a rough loss to the Los Angeles Rams Christmas Day.
The shining light of the season was Jerry Jeudy who managed 972 yards receiving despite the offensive struggles and missing 2 games for an ankle issue. Injuries in fact were a big issue for the Broncos this past season. One that wasn’t talked about as much as it should have been probably. The Broncos finished 31 of 32 NFL teams in The Predictors average weekly BUS ranking position with an average spot of 27.7 meaning that throughout the season they averaged in the bottom 5 teams every week. That’s a tough mountain to climb when health has such an impact on performance.
With an average Banged Up Score (B.U.S) of 62/100 over the regular season The Broncos had a steady decline over the course of 18 weeks. Starting out at 82.7 week 1 already put them in the bottom half of teams and they quickly fell further as they logged a 61.1 Banged Up Score when they hit their bye week. By the end of the season, they had fallen dramatically to a 49.5 making them the second most unhealthy team in the NFL that week. Having that type of bad luck regarding injuries in that division just doesn’t add up to a productive season and it showed.
Now I’m not going to sit here and say coaching didn’t play a big part, sure once Hackett was ousted more points were put up, but this is a health article and what I am saying is health definitely played a big part. Let’s look at some key injuries.
We can start with wide receivers as they were one of the hardest hit positions. As mentioned above Jerry Jeudy missed 2 games with an ankle injury. Many thought this was going to be much worse when it happened but regardless, missing one of their top offensive weapons made it even more difficult for a struggling offense and they dropped both of those games scoring just 10 and 16 points. Tim Patrick missed all season due to an ACL tear. The August 2nd injury was maybe one of the biggest hits to that offense and certainly reduced Wilson’s options. KJ Hamler also was also missing for much of the season due to Hamstring issues following his ACL recovery, a common issue after that type of injury. Behind Russell Wilson RB Javonte Williams tore his ACL and LCL as well. After a great rookie season carrying the ball for 903 yards this was looking to be a big year for him, but the week 4 injury derailed his and the Broncos season. The offensive line had their problems as well with Lloyd Cushenberry on IR for a groin injury and Garett Bolles fracturing his leg.
Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams
After breaking down the injuries on the offensive side of the ball it’s really no wonder that Denver had such problems getting into the endzone. On the defensive side of the ball Jonas Griffith dealt with an ankle issue and there were some other banged up players but overall, it was the offense that suffered more, and their productivity showed because of it. Due to the injuries, I wouldn’t be surprised if Denver opted to draft or sign for depth this offseason especially at running back given their health issues at that position over the last few years. They could also push to tighten up their O-line and perhaps look at some defensive linemen if they can’t keep everyone from last years roster. With new head coach Sean Payton at the helm, they are sure to make a splash and I expect them to patch up some injury holes and compete next year.
