The five biggest takeaways from the first half of Broncos Training Camp

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Oh how time flies when football is on the field.

On Monday, the Broncos held their tenth training camp practice, putting them over the halfway hump of camp.

BSN Denver has been on hand for every second of the nearly 30 hours of football that have been played under the hot summer sun.

Here’s the good, bad and the ugly from the first two weeks of training camp.

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

When Vic Fangio admits there’s reason for concern, then there’s reason for concern. That’s precisely what he admitted one week into camp regarding the offense.

Leading up to that moment, the most encouraging part of the offense was Phillip Lindsay and Emmanuel Sanders’ health. Outside of that, however, there wasn’t too much to be pleased with. Drops, overthrows, and, most concerning, a struggling offensive line, haunted Denver’s offense.

But whether it was Vic’s public call of concern or just fate, the offense started to click just as the weekend approached.

As Joe Flacco got more time, he started to connect with his receivers, who held onto the ball. The play-action game opened up, and Flacco began to truly build a connection with Courtland Sutton deep.

But it still wasn’t perfect. In fact, as the offense slowly started to build steam, penalties began to build up and be their biggest enemy.

“We’ve definitely made some strides. Where we haven’t is in the penalties,” Fangio said after Saturday’s practice unprompted. “This team last year was 31st in the NFL in penalties called. That’s got to stop. We’ve got to improve that.”

That flags didn’t stop on Monday, either.

It certainly hasn’t been perfect, but there’s been progress from the offense as training camp has unfolded. There’s over one month for that progress to continue before the team’s first game.

PASS RUSH ON POINT

The Broncos are built on their pass rush. Unsurprisingly, that’s certainly been evident through the first 10 practices of camp.

Whether it’s the first-team unit, the second-team unit or even deeper on the depth chart, the Broncos’ quarterbacks have been uncomfortable day in and day out.

But most importantly, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and the first-team front seven look lethal.

Multiple times in each and every practice, it’s been hard to distinguish if Chubb or Von was the first to the quarterback as they both essentially meet right in Flacco’s lap. The cherry on top has been the interior pass rush, specifically from Derek Wolfe time and time again, forcing the quarterbacks to be on the run on way too many plays.

An unexpected bright spot has been DeMarcus Walker, who has recorded multiple sacks going up against the first-team offensive line.

Sure, it could be due to a shaky offensive line, but the defense can only tear apart what’s put in front of them. And they’ve done plenty of damage early in camp.

DREW LOCKING IN

According to Fangio, Drew Lock started training camp not as a quarterback, but as a hard-throwing pitcher learning how to pitch.

In one week’s time, not only has he become a quarterback, he’s “doing well,” “getting better,” and “improving,” all compliments by Fangio, who has told it how he sees it to begin camp.

More often than not, unsurprising to those who have watched the rookie play, the 6-foot-4, 228-pound signal caller has had the throw of the day. Those plays have included throwing the ball 50-plus yards with a flick of the wrist, perfectly placed sidearm rockets on the run with a defender barreling down on him and touch passes where only his receiver could catch the ball.

However, what’s been even more impressive is how consistently safe Lock’s been with the ball. On many days of camp, the “gunslinger,” as many have labeled him, has been turnover free and made the safest plays of all of the quarterbacks on the roster. This, not the flashy plays, will impress the organization the most moving forward.

On Monday, Lock continued his rise as he took a significant number of second-team reps.

While he’s listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart released on Monday, and will play after Kevin Hogan in the Hall of Fame game on Thursday night, he’s trending in the right direction quickly.

The future, as John Elway deemed him, is doing everything to prove that he can live up to that calling.

OH SNAP!

As the offense has had their ups and downs, one aspect that’s remained fairly consistent is too many bad shotgun snaps from Connor McGovern to Flacco.

Outside of Saturday’s practice at the stadium, which Fangio deemed “excellent,” bad snaps have derailed the offense at least one time each practice.

Poor snaps that arrive above the knees aren’t ideal, but most of the time don’t kill a play. It’s the snaps below that knees that force the quarterback to take his eyes off the play that absolutely crush an offense.

Unfortunately, those have been the type of bad snaps that have taken place dating back to when McGovern took over for Matt Paradis midway through last year, and have persisted in camp.

On multiple occasions, the snaps have been so low and away, the defense has been the first to recover them, often scooping and scoring them for six.

On Monday, one shotgun snap didn’t even make it to Flacco’s feet. Instead of making a play to recover it, the 6-foot-6 veteran quarterback turned his back and slowly walked away from the play, which quickly was blown dead.

Fangio has stated multiple times poor snaps are unacceptable, need to be “perfect” soon and the only way to improve them is by more practice.

While most of the starters won’t play on Thursday in the Hall of Fame game, McGovern might so he can get more reps and practice, according to Fangio.

THE MANGIO

Since Vic took over the team in January, there’s been no doubt who’s in charge. Training camp has only cemented that.

In the locker room, Fangio isn’t just respected, but his players have completely bought into his message. When the coach speaks, his players listen. It seems like a no-brainer, but that hasn’t always been the case the last few years.

Rolling in his gray crewneck sweatshirt on the daily, his defensive players have without a doubt bought into their new leader as early indications would strongly suggest the Vic-Fangio bump is the real deal. His defense is ballin’—from the front-seven to the backend.

Fangio’s also been incredibly impressive with the media—from charming with his stories of his three decades of experience to saying things every day that just make sense.

It’s clear Vic is comfortable in his own skin. So far, that’s made him the man in town.