With a successful offseason program now officially in the rearview mirror for the Denver Broncos, we took a look back at all of our notes from the six practices that were open to media and put together our top five takeaways from everything we saw.

1) Case Keenum is large and in charge

Ryan’s Take

This is the most obvious and the most important takeaway.

It’s the thing the Broncos have been so desperately missing since Peyton Manning retired, it’s what has made those two years feel like 10 for Broncos fans—unquestioned leadership.

Now, this is not to say Case Keenum is Peyton Manning, but he doesn’t need to be. When the Broncos set foot on the practice field, it’s No. 4 who they look to as their leader. When they make a big play, it’s his approval they seek. That matters.

“I remember today—just now—the offense was kind of jogging, but he was like, ‘Hey! Huddle up!’” Chris Harris Jr. explained early in the offseason. “He takes command out there. he gets them right and let’s them know, ‘I’ve got the play here.’ He’s a leader out there on the field so far.”

“The first thing is that he takes control of everything,” Demaryius Thomas added. “Not just offense but the whole group. Offense, defense, special teams and all. He takes control of the huddle. I know that I was in the huddle one day and I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait. We’re missing…’ and he said, ‘I got this.’ and I said, ‘OK.’ So, it’s stuff like that. It’s good to have him around.”

It may seem too simple, but the Broncos belief in Case Keenum is nearly as important as Keenum’s ability to be an average-to-above-average quarterback for the team this year. Now, he’ll have to bring that solid play to keep that belief alive, but the existing belief is a good sign that he’ll be able to do just that.

Zac’s Take

Every day there could have been a new story written about how Keenum’s leadership is foreign to what the team had the last two years from the quarterback position.

With no intentional disrespect to Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch or Brock Osweiler, multiple players day in and day out praised the dominant leadership abilities of Keenum.

“Our offense has a leader now that’s going to be out there,” Derek Wolfe said firmly during the team’s OTAs, just one of many comments along these lines from current Bronco players. “Not that Trevor [Siemian] wasn’t a good leader. But we’ve got somebody who’s experienced in leading a football team.”

One year ago, the Broncos didn’t know who their starting quarterback was going to be entering the season. Now, however, Keenum’s already earned their respect with safety Justin Simmons adding, “The guys have already rallied around him.”

For most great teams, leadership from the quarterback position is never in question. Denver appears to be heading in the right direction, at least in that respect.

“He’s a great leader. Every day—the majority of the days—he’ll come in and ask me and [Demaryius Thomas] to go and watch practices and we’ll sit in the back room and watch film and go over what he’s thinking and what we’re thinking,” Emmanuel Sanders said, expounding on Keenum’s leadership.

“I’ve been a part of two Super Bowl teams, and that’s what it takes. That extra work that’s not mandatory, where guys are in there working out or working on their mental game. That right there, when it’s the fourth quarter or when it’s fourth-and-5 or third-and-8. That’s the stuff that gets you over the hill.”

2) Bradley Chubb is the real deal

Ryan’s Take

I think any time a team gets a top-five pick, it’s natural to have a slight worry surrounding the potential that said player could be a bust.

Heading into OTAs and mini camp, I had an eye out for any signs that would raise the “bust flag” on No. 5 overall pick Bradley Chubb, and I’m happy to report that I’m ready to put any and all “bust” questions regarding Chubb to bed.

Throughout the offseason program, Chubb was consistently dominant against whoever he was matched up with, showing time and time again why he was widely considered the best defensive prospect in the draft.

“I almost passed out when Cleveland took the DB (Denzel Ward),” said defensive coordinator Joe Woods of Chubb falling to Denver. “I was very appreciative of that. We had talked about this because of where we picked and with the quarterback situation. There was a possibility he could come to us. We just talked and went through a couple of different ideas of things we that could do if we got him and where we would play him. Dreams do come true.”

“Obviously he’s big, he’s strong, and he’s athletic. He can run, and he is extremely smart,” Woods added. “I’m not surprised about it, but he has picked up this defense extremely fast, and he has versatility. It’s going really well so far.”

You can go ahead and remove “Bradley Chubb being a bust” from your list of Broncos concerns.

Zac’s Take

On the field, Chubb looks like an NFL player right now. While most players, even the good ones, need a year or two in the NFL’s rigid strength and conditioning program, Chubb’s 6-foot-4, 270-pound body already looks NFL ready.

From both down as a defensive end — where he’ll play when the team is in sub-packages — and standing up as an outside linebacker — where he’ll be when the defense is in their 3-4 base — Chubb has looked like a natural getting after the passer. What makes Chubb even more dangerous is the multitude of ways he’s proven he can beat offensive lineman.

His progression has been incredibly impressive, too. During OTAs, Chubb flashed. During mandatory mini camp, he stole the show on Day One.

3) The rookie receivers are legit

Ryan’s Take

After drafting two receivers last year and seeing those receivers underachieve, the Broncos bit the bullet and drafted two more this year.

So far, it looks that that move is going to pay off in spades. As last years guys—Carlos Henderson and Isaiah McKenzie—have been in the shadows, this year’s guys—Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton—have been shining bright.

Sutton, who came into the offseason program with questions looming regarding his route running ability, has already shown improvement in that area and has been victimizing defensive back after defensive back with his ability to go up and get 50-50 balls.

While the early pick to make an impact for the team was actually Hamilton, Sutton made a strong case during the offseason as to why he’ll be getting on the field, as well.

Speaking of Hamilton, the hype that surrounded him when he came to Denver held pretty true. The rookie ran sharp routes throughout the process and consistently showed an ability to get open underneath and over the middle of the field.

On multiple occasions when veteran receivers weren’t participating in the team drills at practice, Hamilton stepped in with the first teams and became a favorite target of Case Keenum.

“DaeSean is just in the right place at the right time,” Keenum said. “He doesn’t act like a rookie, and he’s not playing like a rookie. To have a receiver that you can count on to be in the right place at the right time, that’s always a huge plus.”

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave is going to have a whole bunch of options up his sleeve when it comes to how to use his receivers.

Zac’s Take

Early indications would suggest Elway didn’t just hit on his first-round pick, Bradley Chubb, but he got his second-round pick, Courtland Sutton, right, too.

Sutton has been a human highlight machine, catching nearly everything in his radius. From “mossing” Brendan Langley in the team’s first OTA practice, to constantly making plays in the end zone, Sutton has flashed playmaking ability Denver’s offense has so desperately needed over the past few seasons.

Alongside Sutton, fellow-rookie receiver DaeSean Hamilton has been incredibly impressive as well. The team’s fifth-round pick doesn’t dominate physically, like Sutton, but his polished collegiate game has carried over to the NFL nicely.

During the team’s third and final week of OTAs, the 6-foot-1, 203-pound receiver was Keenum’s favorite target on the day as he was able to use precise route running abilities to get open against Denver’s first-team defense. That carried over to mini camp, as well.

Sanders dubbed Hamilton as Denver’s “diamond in the rough,” one of many compliments from fellow teammates and head coach Vance Joseph.

“So far so good with those two guys—‘14’ [Sutton] and ‘17’ [Hamilton] are very mature football players,” Joseph said during the final week of OTAs when both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders missed practice. “Obviously, [Sanders and Thomas] missed [practice]. [Sutton and Hamilton] pushed up to the first team and we didn’t miss a beat. That’s what you want. You want guys in each room who can play as a starter. I was very pleased with those two guys.”

4) Injury concerns

Ryan’s Take

The Denver Broncos, like most teams in the NFL, are not deep across their offensive line.

With that being said, there is hope—and hope is all it is right now—that their starting five this year can be a solid unit. The reason why that is only hope right now is that we have yet to see all five of those players working on the field together.

Throughout the entire offseason, both guard Ron Leary (knee soreness) and tackle Jared Veldheer (foot) sat out, with Joseph citing that the team wanted to be extra careful with injuries during this time of year.

Because of the injuries, the Broncos were left to shake things up on a daily basis along the line, with the only two staples on the first team being center Matt Paradis and tackle Garett Bolles. With players like Cyrus Kouandjio, Elijah Wilkinson, Menelik Watson and Max Garcia in the mix, the offensive line certainly had their struggles.

If the Broncos open training camp with their Bolles-Leary-Paradis-McGovern-Veldheer lineup in place, most of this concern should subside, but if the injuries continue to linger, the line will be a place to watch during training camp.

Zac’s Take

Joseph’s goal was to come out of the offseason healthy. Unfortunately, and completely out of the head coaches control, that didn’t pan out.

In fact, the team went the wrong way in that department.

Not only did five players — Ron Leary (knee soreness), Jordan Taylor (hips), Jared Veldheer (foot), Troy Fumagalli (sports hernia) and Clinton McDonald (shoulder) — not participate in any of the on-field activity during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, the team lost Shane Ray to wrist surgery, keeping him out until at least the regular season.

Joseph’s approach during the offseason was to be extra cautious with any and all injured players, not allowing them to play until they were 100 percent healthy.

On the final day of the offseason, Joseph reaffirmed that both Veldheer and Leary “will be ready for training camp,” while also adding Taylor could start camp on the PUP.

If training camp rolls around and every, or most, of those five players are on the field, then the concerns will be eased. But, if not, sound the alarm bells, these minor injuries, as they were initially classified, are much more worrisome than originally believed.

Bonus takes

Ryan: Don’t believe the hype on the backup quarterbacks

The two biggest head-scratching narratives that came out of the offseason work both surrounded the backup quarterbacks.

1. “Chad Kelly looks great. He could be the future.”
2. “Paxton Lynch looks like a changed man. He’s primed for redemption.”

The truth is, while either could be a possibility, in theory, neither of those takes could be based on what we saw in OTAs and mini camp.

As for Paxton, he looks slightly improved, but he still looks like a backup, at best. While he’s made some nice throws, as he has every year, his propensity for taking off and running is still prevalent and had some on the sidelines of practice calling him the team’s “sixth running back.”

He still has a long ways to go.

As for Kelly, the young quarterback has been extremely inconsistent. Each moment of brilliance has been matched with a head scratcher to go with it. The best way to sum things up so far for No. 6 is that he still sits as the team’s third quarterback heading into training camp, despite the struggles of Lynch.

What I will say about Kelly, though, is that at this point in his career, he appears to be a step ahead of where Lynch was at the same point in his career. We’ll see how much that is worth when the Broncos have to start making real decisions in August.

If there’s a real narrative surrounding the backup quarterbacks that should have come out of the offseason, it’s that the Broncos would be in some real trouble if Case Keenum ever went down for an extended period of time.

Zac: Don’t overlook the scheme shakeups

Without blinking an eye, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave happily admitted Denver’s offense is “Pretty much” going to be entirely different than last year’s disappointing version.

With Keenum at the helm, Musgrave is implementing an offense that can go no huddle at times as well as work from both under center and out of shotgun. From the practices that were open to the media, it’s clear Musgrave is getting creative in the way he uses skill position players and won’t limit players to one spot on the field just because of their position.

While Woods wouldn’t go as far as Musgrave in saying his defense will be entirely different than last year, the defensive coordinator did admit he was taking Denver’s defense to “level two” this year by adding new concepts and looks.

And boy was that evident during OTAs and minicamp.

From one play to the next, Woods’ defense would change drastically with new personnel, formations, and assignments.

It was evident his two most notable additions, Chubb and Su’a Cravens will play a big part in Denver’s evolution.