One of my favorite times of the year is Training Camp. I love the idea of hitting a new season with exciting expectations, refreshed hope, and the full summer build up changing the makeup of the team through Free Agency, the NFL draft and player development. Training camp is the first opportunity for fans to see how players look on the field, which players synergize well, which players are dominating, which players clearly worked hard all summer. The energy, excitement, promise and passion behind fans and the city of Denver are at the highest levels since the Super Bowl winning 2015 season.

We get to see if the offense brought in by Nathaniel Hackett will be anything more exciting that the terrible Pat Shurmur offense we as fans have been victimized by for two full seasons. Is the wide receiver core going to be as stacked as all the fans seem to think with Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, KJ Hamler and Tim Patrick? Will Russell Wilson have a career year in a new city, new offense, new team, with new weapons? Can the offensive line gel and elevate their play to be a top unit in the NFL? Are Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon a top running back duo in the league?

The questions around the offense are going to start to get answers in training camp. I think if we start to see an offense that can score and move the ball against the number one defense, we can have faith that the Broncos are going to have a top tier offense. Elite Quarterback play is something that gives all fans hope that this can be the year. Pairing elite quarterback play with a ton of upper echelon weapons, and a top-10 defense, that seems to be the recipe for championship aspirations in Denver.

Can Ejiro Evero get more out of the defense than Vic Fangio did? Can he elevate the defense to be a turnover machine instead of a prevent scoring defense? We get to see if Bradley Chubb can get back to a Pro Bowl status by playing a full season. Does Pat Surtain grow into a top three Cornerback in the NFL? Is the pass rush now the strongest unit on the Broncos roster?

I think seeing these guys on the field, we get the reminder that this defense is built to go deep in the playoffs, and anything more than bottom five offensive output over the last five years this defense should have been talked about as a top unit in the league. Now, that doesn’t mean people didn’t recognize they were talented, but winning games is what it takes to get that respect as an elite unit.

Let’s see what kinds of respect they get when the offense is scoring 25-30 points a game and the defense can pin their ears back and get after the quarterback and take risks for turnovers. In the past five seasons, they have had to make sure the other team didn’t score or they didn’t win, now they can focus on stealing possessions and running the scoreboard up.

Now, one of the things the Broncos leaders wanted to get out of this off-season, was an improved special teams unit. They used draft picks on a punt returner, depth cornerbacks and safeties for gunner positions and kickoff coverage, they had the goal to not be a bad special teams squad this coming season. That will be a dramatic change of pace from the Tom McMahon years, where he somehow continued to keep his job after failing year after year. Hopefully they get a huge bump in the third phase of football. The Broncos also brought in a Punter to compete with Sam Martin, meaning that everyone is fighting for their jobs except Brandon McManus, the longest tenured Denver Bronco.

I will be attending the Broncos Back Together Saturday (below) extravaganza and I will do my best to document observations, player stand outs, big plays that players make an impact. I have done this every year for the last 5 years and it is seriously my absolutely favorite thing about the off-season. Calling out player’s big days and getting fans, that can’t attend, the visibility that they so dearly crave. Stay tuned, but Sunday ill post my thoughts and observations!

Lets Ride Broncos Country! See you Saturday!

About Post Author

Aaron Hubert

Major Colorado sports fan who was once, for an entire year, a paid writer covering the entire Colorado sports scene. I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, a huge fan of all the professional sports Colorado had to offer. I played Football and Basketball in High School. I attended Colorado State University for undergrad, earning my degree in Business with a concentration in Computer Information Systems. I work as a professional Product Manager in the software development space for Fanatics.com the sports apparel company. I am a Fantasy Football and Fantasy Hockey participant, not sure if that will ever be worked into these writings, but keeping my option open! I really enjoy the process of being a huge fan of sports, being a passionate Colorado sports advocate, and using social media and writing to express my beliefs and opinions about sports.

aaronh92@hotmail.com

http://www.centennial-sports.com

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