Mile High Monday: How will the Broncos look in their season opener?

The Denver Broncos have wrapped up training camp and set their 53-man roster. In addition, they have assembled their 15-man practice squad. Everything in terms of roster evaluation is done for now, and here comes the regular season opener one week from tonight.

This will be the first time the Broncos of 2020 have went up against an opponent other than themselves. With no preseason games, it was incredibly difficult to properly evaluate prospects during training camp. This difficulty is something Broncos head coach Vic Fangio spoke about this weekend.

“Each and every snap was that much more valuable. I think the positions that were the hardest to evaluate are the ones that involve tackling, which you don’t get to do as much in these types of camps. Your DBs, your linebackers, your running backs, your receivers, tight ends—are they breaking tackles or are they getting tackled? Are the defensive players making the tackles or missing them? You get those when you play the preseason games, which we don’t have. I think the tackling aspect from both sides of the ball is the part you miss in the evaluation process.” Fangio said.

I like this time of year because we are only a few days from seeing football games that count in the standings. In addition, fantasy football and DFS are back this week so I’m excited to see how my projections for the year turn out each week and over the course of the season.

I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ! The following is a result of those trips during the week.

Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.

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The Facts Of Life

Everyone was watching second-year quarterback Drew Lock with a critical eye during training camp – and for good reason. Lock started five games for the Broncos as a rookie in 2019, going 4-1 during that time. Those five games gave us a glimpse as to what Lock can be in the pros – and it was a great look! However, five games are not enough to declare a young passer that he is in fact a real franchise quarterback.

Lock looked improved as a player entering year two, but his training camp was not perfect. In fact, as camp went on, we saw more struggles from Lock. Those errant passes and interceptions did not stick with him – he’s got a short memory – but they did happen. It’s all part of the learning process and not something I’m going to overreact to.

Fangio admits that Lock’s performance was up-and-down during training camp.

“It was a little inconsistent, but I think that’s what we expect. I think you have to get challenged. You have to have bad days in practice. You know how you bounce back from them, but also you’ll learn from those too. I think it was a little bit of an up and down. I think he had a real nice [practice] last night. He finished strong, finished camp strong last night with a good night.” Elway said.

Without an offseason at the facility and with no preseason games to speak of, I feel that Lock could struggle the first month of the season.

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Clowney(ing) Around

The Broncos are facing off on Monday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 of the regular season. Those Titans made a big move over the weekend by adding veteran pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney as a free agent. Clowney had several teams interested in his services, including the Las Vegas Raiders, but he chose to gamble on himself with a one-year, incentive-laden deal with the Titans.

The familiarity with head coach Mike Vrabel (and the contract which could be up to $15 million) was a big reason why Clowney chose the Titans. Vrabel was the Houston Texans linebacker coach (and later their defensive coordinator) when Clowney was the no.1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. Clowney is coming off a down season in 2019 where he only snared 3.0 sacks for the Seattle Seahawks and battled through injuries. He’s looking for a bounce-back season in 2020, especially since he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent again next year.

Clowney’s status for Week 1 is unclear right now and there’s a chance he isn’t even active for the game against the Broncos. However, if he does play – even on a limited number of snaps – it’s bad news for the Broncos offensive line. The O-line struggled to keep Lock well protected in camp and they’ll be facing some elite-level pass-rushers the first three weeks of the year in Clowney, T.J. Watt (Steelers) and Shaq Barrett (Buccaneers).

Are Garett Bolles and Eli Wilkinson up for the challenge? We’re fixing to find out – and soon – with Clowney potentially out there harassing Lock on Monday Night Football.

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Friday Night Lights

The team practiced at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium on Friday night for the final day of training camp. Things got off to a quick start for the Broncos offense. I can’t give away the exact stats, but just know that the Broncos first-team offense (most of the night agains the first-team defense) ended on a high note.

I had seen flashes from this offense throughout camp, but on Friday night it seemed to all come together. I liked the play-calling from Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur and I liked how the team featured an aggressive mindset with both the pass and the run.

After practice, coach Fangio spoke honestly about what he thinks of this offense.

“I like where we’re at offensively on our roster. I think we have good players sprinkled throughout all the positions. If you like the roster and you can get it going—I think we have the ability to throw it, we have the ability to run it, we have two good running backs and we have a commitment to run it. We have the receivers, the tight ends and backs to throw it to. We have a quarterback that can throw it. Our O-line is young in some spots, but I think that they’ll be able to do a good job in blocking. I’m excited to see where we’re at offensively. Will it be slow to show? I don’t know, it might be. I’m not going to put any floor or ceiling on them.” Fangio said.

I was dismayed by what I’d seen at practice so far in terms of offensive production. Friday night did not completely erase my concerns on that side of the ball, but it did give me a bit more confidence in the offense.

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The Boys Are Back

Everyone knows I love comic books. Everyone knows I love when comic book properties are adapted to television and movie screens. One of the best comic book adaptations out there is ‘The Boys’ on Amazon Prime.

It’s not your classic superhero story, and The Boys is not for everyone. It’s a hyper-violent look at what it could be like if superheroes were in our society and the main attraction in pop culture. The Boys features plenty of twists and turns – just like the comic book – and I’m glad to see them mainly stick to the source material.

So, are you watching season two of The Boys? Hit me up on social networking and let me know!

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Follow Cecil Lammey on Twitter and Instagram: @cecillammey