Paton has done more for Fangio than Elway ever did

The Denver Broncos have a new general manager and his first week in free agency was outstanding. I feel things started out a little rough with George Paton (I wanted an extension for Von Miller and the Phillip Lindsay situation could have been handled differently in my opinion), but he crushed the first week of free agency with his transactions towards the end of the week.

A general manager and a head coach must be on the same page. In today’s NFL most of the time the duo is hired together, get similar contracts in terms of length and have a shared vision of what they want their team to be.

That’s not the case with the Broncos.

Fangio was hired before the 2019 by former general manager John Elway and Paton was hired this offseason to replace Elway. Instead of looking to the future, which may not include Fangio, Paton has worked diligently to get players who can thrive (or have thrived in the past) with the head coach.

Paton has done more for Fangio in two months than Elway did in two years. Let us count the ways.

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All about fit

The dirty little secret in the league is that it’s all about fit. A team must find players that fit the system both on offense and defense. The level of talent in the NFL is not that much different from the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots‘ so figuring out how best to use the talent is the key to winning consistently in the NFL.

Paton has gone out and found the proper ‘fits’ for a Fangio defense. It started with getting veteran cornerback Ronald Darby. He’s a speedy corner who can flip his hips and stay with some of the fastest receivers in the league. Darby is a pass breakup fiend and is a willing tackler (and must for Fangio) when asked to help in run support.

Darby is a good no.2 cornerback but he would have been miscast as a no.1 corner. Last year, Elway traded for A.J. Bouye and the team tried to make him a no.1 corner even though he’s best served as a no.2 on a defense. Paton wasn’t going to do that to Fangio, and that’s why he got him another cornerback to start on the outside.

The move for Kyle Fuller was fantastic. Fuller was released by the Bears in a salary cap saving move, and Denver was quick to scoop him up. His best season was back in 2018 when Fangio was the Bears defensive coordinator and Paton is hoping that they can rekindle that magic in Denver. Fuller is a true no.1 cornerback and should pair greatly with Darby as outside players. The move for Fuller also sends Bryce Callahan to the no.3 spot – where he might be the best slot corner in the NFL.

Paton is not forcing players who do not fit on Fangio but instead setting him up for success with top-flight additions.

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Coaching decisions

Not only did Elway strap Fangio with some players that did not fit, but he also did the same with the coaching staff back in 2019. Fangio was supposed to have Gary Kubiak as his offensive coordinator which would have been a dream come true for Elway – essentially getting the best of both worlds on defense and offense. When Kubiak said he wouldn’t return without other coaches (which the team did not want), Elway was forced to go with a Kubiak disciple in Rich Scangarello. The results were not good as the Broncos offense struggled until the final five games of the 2019 season.

Scangarello was fired after the year and replaced with a Fangio favorite in Pat Shurmur. In 2020, the Broncos offense was not much better than Scangarello’s so Paton could have come in and replaced the OC to put his stamp on the coaching side of the ledger. Instead, Fangio gets to keep Shurmur on his staff and see if they can build on the foundation they put in place last year.

Paton is letting this staff – and the plan that was in place – breathe for another season. Perhaps things won’t work out in the end, but the new GM is not being hasty with his coaching decisions.

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Keeping your finds

Paton has done a good job in keeping most of the team’s “finds” this offseason. They didn’t keep Lindsay, but the team did finally get Justin Simmons and Shelby Harris signed to new long-term deals. These two players step into leadership roles with the team for 2021 and beyond, but their signings send a message to the players that is from Paton.

Business is going to be done differently now with the Broncos. If you perform at a high level the team will reward you to stay here. In the Elway years, the team would regularly let players go without giving them a second contract. The regime drafted poorly overall (some years were better than others), but when a player emerged as a quality starter or reserve the Broncos didn’t seem to put an emphasis on keeping them in the building. Consider that all changed now.

The message sent to the players is a strong one because they are focused on staying and building rather than producing and getting the hell out of Denver.

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Final Comparison

This idea was Orlando Franklin’s and he examined the difference in acquisitions between Elway and Paton on ‘Orlando and Sandy.’ I decided to wrap up this article with a mere chart of the players Elway added and what Paton has already done. I’m sure you can see a clear difference even though Paton has just gotten started.

Here are the March 2019 acquisitions:

• 03/21

• Re-signed QB Kevin Hogan to one-year contract.

• 03/16

• Agreed to terms with DL Zach Kerr on a two-year contract.

• 03/15

• Agreed to terms with CB Bryce Callahan on a three-year contract

• 03/15

• Agreed to terms with TE Jeff Heuerman on two-year contract.

• 03/13

• Acquired a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft in exchange for QB Case Keenum and a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

• 03/13

• Agreed to terms with T Ja’Wuan James on a four-year contract.

• 03/13

• Agreed to terms with free-agent CB Kareem Jackson on a three-year contract.

• 03/13

• Acquired QB Joe Flacco from Baltimore in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

• 03/07

• Released S Darian Stewart.

• 03/07

• Re-signed LS Casey Kreiter to a one-year contract

Here are the March 2020 acquisitions:

• 03/30

• Signed P Sam Martin.

• Re-signed OLB Jeremiah Attaochu.

• 03/27

• Re-signed LB Joe Jones, DL Joel Heath.

• 03/26

• Signed RB Melvin Gordon to a two-year contract.

• Signed QB Jeff Driskel to a two-year contract.

• 03/23

• Signed OL Graham Glasgow to a four-year contract.

• 03/20

• Acquired a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft from Cleveland in exchange for FB Andy Janovich

• 03/19

• Acquired DL Jurrell Casey in a trade with the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

• 03/18

• Acquired CB A.J. Bouye from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

• 03/11

• Signed LS Jacob Bobenmoyer.

• 03/05

• Released DL Billy Winn

• Waived CB Horace Richardson

Now, here are the transactions from March 2021 (the Kareem Jackson signing has not yet been updated on the Broncos official website):

• 03/23

• Released TE Nick Vannett.

• 03/20

• Agreed to terms with CB Kyle Fuller.

• 03/19

• Re-signed S Justin Simmons.

• 03/18

• Agreed to terms with RB Mike Boone.

• 03/17

• Agreed to terms with CB Ronald Darby.

• 03/15

• Re-signed DE Shelby Harris

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