State of the Broncos: For six years, this has been a position of need

The Broncos finished the 2021 season with a 7-10 record. It was the team’s fifth-straight losing season. It also marked the sixth-consecutive year in which the franchise failed to make the playoffs.

As a result, Vic Fangio was shown the door. The head coach was 19-30 during his three seasons in Denver. A coaching change is on the way.

What will the new head coach inherit? What will his new staff have to work with in Denver?

The “State of the Broncos” series is a position-by-position look at what went well in 2021, what didn’t and what needs to change for ’22 and beyond. In this installment, it’s time to take a look at a position that has been ignored since Super Bowl 50 – inside linebacker/

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Pro Football Focus Grades
Josey Jewell – 83.5
Alexander Johnson – 81.0
Baron Browning – 55.5
Kenny Young – 50.6
Justin Strnad – 32.0

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2021 Review

Everyone knows that the Broncos have been searching for a quarterback since Super Bowl 50. Much has been made of the carousel at that position since Peyton Manning retired.

During that time, however, Denver has also been grasping for answers at another spot. On the other side of the ball, at inside linebacker, they’ve been searching for answers.

Danny Trevathan left for the Bears after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. He was never replaced. Once Brandon Marshall left, there was a total void in the middle of the Broncos defense.

Year after year, everyone expects them to address it. Season after season, they fail to, via free agency or the draft.

The 2021 campaign was no different. With the No. 9 overall pick, the Broncos could’ve taken Micah Parsons, a linebacker who would go on to win (most like) Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Instead, they went with cornerback Pat Surtain.

That meant it was another season of Josey Jewell and Alexander Johnson in the middle. The Broncos were once again going to try to patch things together.

It quickly unraveled. Jewell was lost for the season in Week 2 with a torn pec. Johnson suffered the same injury in Week 6.

Both were playing fine. Neither was playing great.

In their absence, the Broncos had to piece things together even more. Justin Strnad got some action, before being replaced by rookie Baron Browning and newly acquired Kenny Young.

That pairing showed some promise. After coming over from the Rams, Young displayed the sideline-to-sideline speed that had been missing since Trevathan and Marshall departed. Browning was constantly around the ball.

Are they the long-term answers at inside linebacker, however? That would be a giant leap, a grand over-inflation of the existing talent on the roster.

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A Look Ahead

Alexander Johnson, Josey Jewell and Kenny Young are all unrestricted free agents. So the first decision the Broncos have to make is which of their own players they’d like to retain.

Young showed some promise in his short stint with the Broncos. It’d be nice to see what he can do after an offseason, training camp and preseason with the team.

Johnson had a solid six games before getting injured. He’s a player worthy of a look, certainly as much as anyone else on the free agent market.

Jewell has limited upside. He doesn’t have the speed to cover running backs and tight ends, and he isn’t a big-time run stuffer. He’s a decent special teams player, but even in that phase it’s hard to come up with multiple moments in which he shined. It’s probably time to move on from the former third-round pick.

Browning will be a starter heading into camp. That much seems certain. Johnson and Young would be candidates to start alongside him.

From there, the Broncos need to add depth. They should put at least one of their 11 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft to use on an inside linebacker.

Georgia’s Nakobe Dean would be an option at No. 9, as would Utah’s Devin Lloyd. In the second round, Wyoming’s Chad Muma would be a good fit.

Whatever the path, the Broncos need to finally address this position of need. Inside linebacker has been ignored for too long.

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