Training Camp Observations: Day one was good for the Broncos offense

The Denver Broncos kicked off training camp at UC Health Training Center on Wednesday. It was good to get back out there in the hot sun and watch some football. The Broncos have an interesting team, and there are plenty of position battles worth monitoring for fans in attendance.

In addition to the quarterback battle – which rightfully dominates the headlines – I’m watching both sides of the ball to see how the depth chart is going to shake out. Unlike recent years, the Broncos have quality depth, so there are going to be some battles between talented players which need to be monitored as we go through late July and early August.

Here are my five biggest observations from day one of training camp.

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Day 1 Winner

I don’t want to do this, but everyone is going to want to know who wins the day – each day – at training camp. Today, I think Drew Lock was slightly better than Teddy Bridgewater. The quarterback battle is not going to be decided anytime soon, but I believe the coaching staff would be leaning towards Lock if the decision had to be made today.

Lock was cold to start out practice. He was the first quarterback out there with the first team, and Lock’s first pass was late, off the mark and generally a bad throw. While on the move Lock should have been more comfortable with his read, but it seemed like he was hesitant to let it rip. When he did, the pass was off the mark and the moans from the crowd could be heard.

However, as practice went on Lock got better. The two best passes of the day were from Lock, almost both on the same route with both resulting in a touchdown. The first touchdown to Trinity Benson was nice, in stride but it was against second- and third-team defenders. In fact, it was Parnell Motley (who struggled on Wednesday) who the pass was completed against. Good throw, the proper read, but it was against talent Lock won’t likely be throwing to much or throwing against much if at all outside of camp.

The second throw was the best one. A touchdown to Jerry Jeudy (more on him in a bit) split the defense and showed better chemistry than those two had in 2020. It’s important for Lock to take those deep shots and make those big plays – and he did that two times today.

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Moving Around

We can’t give too much away about formations or packages per Broncos media policy, but fans should know that rookie first-round cornerback Patrick Surtain is going to be moved around the formation. The Broncos defense is jam-packed when it comes to cornerback talent. They have four players – Surtain, Kyle Fuller, Ronald Darby and Bryce Callahan who are potential starters – a much different situation than they had in 2020.

Surtain is the real deal. He looked great in OTAs and mandatory minicamp, and that blanketing style continued in Day 1 of training camp. Surtain has great size, great range and high football knowledge which puts him around the ball all the time.

The Broncos are wisely going to move him around the formation to get Darby and Callahan on the field with the talented rookie from time to time. Again, I can’t reveal too much about where Surtain is lining up or which package he’s doing that in – so just know he’s versatile, smart and can play a variety of positions in their defense.

I want to see if Surtain is a “TE killer,” as that was not a position we saw him covering today. I know it’s only one day of camp, but this game is not too big for Surtain and if you didn’t know you could not guess that he’s a rookie with zero NFL experience. He already looks like a seasoned pro.

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Going All Out

When the offense made their best plays, it was second-year wide receiver Jerry Jeudy who was most likely involved.
I like the way that Jeudy went “all out” on every play. He already has great chemistry with Bridgewater, something we saw early and often during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. On Wednesday, Jeudy was working hard to make plays for Lock – and Lock was hitting him when he was open (which is often).

The best play Jeudy made was the touchdown from Lock down the middle of the field. Jeudy was well known as a great route runner coming out of college and he’s carrying that over once again to this season. The Broncos have some damn good cornerbacks, and Jeudy was getting open regularly against these guys.

Arguably the best play from Jeudy didn’t go for a touchdown, but just showed his premium effort. He slipped on an out route, and the pass was incoming from Bridgewater. Rather than give up on the play, Jeudy leapt from the ground to snare the football on a catch that seemed like something out of “The Matrix.” No matter who the passer is, Jeudy is becoming a favorite target of both.

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Sleeper Tight End

The tight ends behind starter Noah Fant are a concern for me. Fant is a great starter, and I think he can really flourish in his third season as a pro. However, the guys behind him either have injury concerns, talent questions or a lack of experience.

It was good to see Albert Okwuegbunam out there, but he’s not the backup tight end who impressed me the most on Wednesday. That designation goes to Eric Saubert, a player the team signed in free agency earlier this year.

At Drake, he was a player who stood out to me years ago during the week of practice at the East-West Shrine Game. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 but has bounced around the league ever since. On film, Saubert has looked like a talented “Y” tight end who can do it all. However, he has not earned the opportunity for much playing time as he’s bounced around.

On Wednesday, Saubert was a player who was regularly open and consistent with the way he caught the football. Fant is great, Okweugbunam (coming off a knee injury) has upside but the team needs a reliable third guy on the depth chart. I know it’s only one day, but it looks like Saubert could be that guy.

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Steady Teddy

It was cool to see the way teammates responded to Bridgewater today. I think Lock won the day, but Bridgwater was as steady as they come.

I like the way the ball came out of his hands today. He’s smart, accurate and most of the time the ball is released on time and to the correct target. Bridgewater does a great job of leading his receivers to maximize yards after the catch.

While Lock had two big touchdowns, Bridgewater almost had one – the first one – if only his receiver caught the well-placed pass in the end zone. Bridgewater read the defense correctly and knew he had a big play developing with Tyrie Cleveland in the middle of the field. He put plenty of air under the ball, it didn’t float too much, and it came down right in the hands of his receiver – who dropped it. Had Cleveland caught that ball, or Jeudy was the receiver, then Bridgewater would have turned in a better day than Lock.

Bridgewater did not start cold like Lock. He’s steady, he’s mostly the same player on every play. He’s going to be smart with the ball and he’s going to read the entire field quickly while understanding what a defense is trying to do. We should see that consistency continue every day in camp.

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