Are the Broncos really as far off as many believe?

As the Broncos got out to a 20-point lead on Sunday afternoon, it came to me.

Joe Flacco, the guy who John Elway believed was just entering his prime, was actively hurting the Broncos’ ability to win games. His lack of fire, his lack of mobility, his lack of vocal leadership, it all combined to create a 500-pound anchor, keeping the Broncos’ ship from ever setting sail this season.

As we’ve seen right before our eyes, an undrafted quarterback who waited four years before ever getting a chance to start a game in the NFL gives the Broncos a better chance to win than Flacco, just based on the fact that he provides a little bit of juice, can move around a bit and trusts his playmakers to make plays.

After that hit me, something else hit me.

Because of the Flacco anchor, it felt like the Broncos were a lot further away from being competitive than they really are. But over the last two weeks, it’s started to become clear that this “rebuild” is closer to a “renovation” than it once felt.

It starts with the defense, where the 28-point second half from the Vikings today was a big-time outlier. From everything else we’ve seen, this group is going to be competitive under Vic Fangio’s leadership. Let’s also not forget that they have Bradley Chubb coming back next year.

Then, you turn to the offense, which has been the Broncos’ biggest problem for four years.

Believe it or not, things are looking up.

In Courtland Sutton, the Broncos have a true No. 1 wide receiver. In Dalton Risner, they have the centerpiece of their offensive line for years to come. In Phillip Lindsay, they have their running back of the future. In Noah Fant, they have a true mismatch tight end. This group has the skill pieces in place to really take off.

In all reality, the Denver Broncos are really just two big pieces away from getting back into the mix, but what’s crazy is they may already have one on the roster.

Of course, that potential piece is Drew Lock, who the Broncos should be getting a five-game preview of this season. While we don’t yet know how he will look on an NFL field, what we do know is that Lock is the polar opposite of Flacco in the fire, moxie and vocal leadership departments. When it comes to those intangibles, he’s exactly what this team needs.

And this is where things get interesting, because if  Lock shows enough in those five games that the Broncos want to go into next season with him as the guy, that enables them to have a great chance at filling the last big hole.

That hole, of course, is the left tackle position, where Garett Bolles has been a flat-out liability for three years now. If Denver rolls with Drew Lock in 2020, they will be able to use their high first-round pick on a player like Andrew Thomas or Tristan Wirfs, the two highest-rated tackle prospects this year.

A bookend tackle would unlock this offense in a massive way, as they have been forced to compensate for Bolles’ struggles since he was put on the field.

Now, filling these two holes would not make the Broncos a finished product by any means, as they still have holes on the right side of the line and in the rest of the wide receiver room, but it would put them in a position to get right back into the playoff hunt.

Once again, this illuminates just how imperative it is for the Broncos to get Drew Lock on the field as soon as possible. Five games may not be enough to know for sure, but it’s certainly enough to make an educated guess. Anything less than five leaves a chance for outliers to skew the sample.

But if, and it’s a big if, they hit on Lock, this team is ready to go right away. They are much, much closer than we were led to believe as they tried to drag Joe Flacco along.