Broncos Training Camp Observations: How Denver is making sure Noah Fant gets involved

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After a two-day break, following their 22-14 preseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos were back on the field on Sunday morning for yet another fully-padded training camp practice.

It was one of the most balanced practices of training camp thus far, with both the offense and the defense getting their fair share of big plays.

Here’s what we learned as we took in the entire practice.

FORCING FANT

If there’s one thing that has become abundantly clear about the Broncos offense as we are now halfway between the beginning of training camp and Week 1, it’s that they are going to make sure rookie tight end Noah Fant gets involved early and often.

At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds with 4.5 speed and a massive vertical, Fant is very obviously a weapon, but it’s also clear he is still very raw as a pure NFL tight end—just as any rookie would be—when it comes to things like route running.

But Rich Scangarello and Co. aren’t going to let rawness get in the way of potential production. Throughout camp, we’ve seen Scangarello scheme up many different ways to get the ball to Fant quickly and easily so he can use his natural abilities to make plays.

On Sunday, we saw a perfect example of this, as quarterback Joe Flacco faked a handoff and began to roll to the right, drawing the defense with him. Instead of moving with the flow, though, Fant held his ground, and as the defense pursued, he was left open. Flacco threw the ball back his way, and the rookie tight end was out in space, just where Scangarello wants him.

Sunday’s play was just the latest in a long line of designed easy catches for No. 87, all of which ask nothing more of the raw talent than to simply catch the ball and run with it.

Often, coaches are stubborn about stuff like this, forcing young players to be far more sharpened before allowing them to truly get involved. It’s a good sign to see that Scangarello is being progressive with the ways he is using his new weapon, and allowing that weapon to gain some confidence in the process.

DREW’S TWOS

The Broncos have been put in a precarious situation.

With both Andy Janovich and Theo Riddick, two players Denver was planning to be on the 53-man roster, dealing with 6-8 week injuries, the team could be forced to carry extra weight in the stable of backs when they cut down the roster to 53 in a few weeks.

Suddenly, guys like Devontae Booker and Geroge Aston, two players who certainly seemed to be on the outside looking in, may be on the opening day roster in addition to Janovich and Riddick.

That’s right, Denver could be forced to keep a total of six backs on their initial 53.

So, what does this have to do with Drew Lock?

Well, if you’re keeping two extra backs, you have to take two players away from other position groups, and one of the most popular corners to cut in a situation like this is to only keep two quarterbacks. If that’s the case, you can obviously wave bye-bye to Kevin Hogan and Brett Rypien, as far as the 53 goes, leaving the second-team offense all to Lock.

Whether it was for this reason or others, Lock was the first quarterback out with the second team on Sunday and, aside from scout team, got just about every 11-on-11 rep with the twos on the day.

It led to this exchange.

Reporter: “Can we say Drew is the No. 2 now?”

Vic Fangio: “I’m not. You said ‘we.’ I’m not. You can, but I’m not.”

“They got a few [reps] more today, both of them,” Fangio added of Lock and Rypien. “That was the plan all along.”

So, while it may be a bit early to call the race for the No. 2 QB, the Broncos’ hands may be tied when it comes to trimming down their roster.

REED AND REACT

It’s just about time to pull out the old sharpie on the roster board for undrafted free agent rookie Malik Reed.

Reed, an outside linebacker out of the University of Nevada, has made constant plays in practice and has notched a sack and both of the team’s preseason games thus far. It’s earned him praise from Vic Fangio, Ed Donatell and even Bradley Chubb, who called Reed a “dog,” a high form of praise in football circles.

On Sunday, more good news came in for Reed’s roster chances, as the team waived fellow OLB Jeff Holland.

In his first practice since that news, Reed was a beast once again, notching another sack and forcing multiple pressures while mostly working with the second and third teams. Because Miller and Chubb hold things down on the first team pretty well, Reed has seen most of his work with the second and third units, and he’s dominated in that space, potentially leading the team in training camp sacks.

“I like the was Malik has played,” Fangio said after practice. “We like him a lot.”

If Reed were to make the team, it would mark 15 out of the last 16 years that an undrafted rookie has made the Broncos, and things are certainly trending in that direction.

OTHER NOTES

• We’ve reached the portion of camp where the offense begins to install trick plays, a pretty good sign that the rest of the offense is in.
  • Will Parks made a tremendous recovery to break up a deep pass on a trick play early in the practice.
• Brett Rypien showed off some really nice touch on back to back plays during 7-on 7, hitting Trinity Benson with a deep ball down the right sideline on one and hitting Juwann Winfree in stride up the seam on another. Both perfect balls.
• While it was against the scout team, Joe Flacco hit back-to-back deep balls as well. One, a 75-yard touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders, and the other a 40-50 yard gain to Courtland Sutton.
• Safety Jamal Carter has moved to linebacker, at least for the time being.
  • “Right now, it’s temporary, but if he looks good in there it will be permanent,” said Fangio. “It’s twofold—our numbers have gotten low there, and he’s always wanted to play in there, so the timing was good. He wants to be in there.”
• With Andy Janovich out, George Aston, another undrafted rookie, took each and every fullback rep.
• Alijah Holder had an interception of Flacco on the day, and in his first practice back, Bryce Callahan picked off Kevin Hogan.
• Callahan, Jake Butt, Bug Howard, Jeff Heuerman, Josey Jewell and Aaron Wallace all returned to the practice field on Sunday after missing time with injuries.
• Both Kareem Jackson and Horace Richardson didn’t practice with hamstring issues.