In making a fair evaluation of the Broncos’ offense, it is always important to note the overall youth of the unit. Nearly half (49) of the 99 total individual offensive starts so far this season belong to rookies or second-year players, and three of the team’s four leading pass-catchers joined the team in the past two drafts.
But the youth is most evident at the two positions where experience can prove most valuable: quarterback and center. No players have more on their shoulders before the snap in terms of identifying coverages and adjusting protections, and in quarterback Drew Lock and center Lloyd Cushenberry III, the Broncos have two players who have just 21 NFL starts between them.
It starts with the center.
“‘Cush’ is making the initial call when we get up to the line,” said quarterback Brett Rypien, who started in the Week 4 win over the New York Jets.
And while Cushenberry has shown progress in fits and starts during a bumpy rookie season, his experience doesn’t match up with what Lock had at his disposal during his five starts last year, when his former Missouri teammate, Connor McGovern, worked at center.
“The thing that helped me a lot last year was having a veteran guy,” Lock said, referring to McGovern. “A guy that played tackle, he’s played guard, and he’s played center and that was his second year at center where he’s been in the league for a minute.”
McGovern did not make his 10th NFL start until five weeks into his third pro season — and those first starts came at guard, which he handled until moving to center 10 games into the 2018 campaign after Matt Paradis suffered a season-ending injury. By the time Lock and McGovern worked together, McGovern had 31 starts to his name, including 18 at center.
Cushenberry is still working his way to that point.
It’s one thing when you have a rookie or first-year center paired with a veteran quarterback; the Broncos had that with Paradis and Peyton Manning in 2015. Sometimes the reverse can be true and can work; Denver had this with young passers like Brian Griese in 1999 and Jay Cutler in 2006 taking snaps from eventual Ring of Famer Tom Nalen.
But having youth at both spots can lead to some difficulties in pre-snap checks and calls.
“We talk about our young skilled athletes [and] a lot of people forget about ‘Cush’ and the rookie he is and me and him both having to work together to get these blitzes picked up,” Lock said. “It’s not easy, you have thoughts on where you want to slide it this week or where you want to take it or who they like to blitz the most.”
Progress is coming — Lock says he’s “definitely farther ahead than I was last year” — but it can be inconsistent.
“Like I’ve said every week, guys come in and it’s a little different,” Lock said. “You might get stung in the first half — we scouted them, we thought this thing, and then they brought something else. It’s just all about adapting in game for me and ‘Cush.’”
Exacerbating matters is that the challenges typically come in second- and third-and-long scenarios. According to pro-football-reference.com, the Broncos have faced second- and third-down plays with at least 10 or more yards to gain a league-high 136 times. So the Broncos have faced these long-yardage situations 15.1 times per game; no one else averages even 14.0 such plays per game.
In those, it is essential for the quarterback to be dialed in on the hot read — and for the receiving target to be on point. An example of this going askew came last Sunday, when Lock located tight end Noah Fant to his right, but Fant — who had released from blocking responsibilities – didn’t turn around to see Lock’s pass coming toward him.
It takes a lot to go right, and most often, the burden is on the passer.
“We can all improve in that quarterback room in those situations — those third-and-long situations — where defenses try to make you throw hot and rally to tackle you short of the line to gain,” Rypien said. “That’s where you really need to be dialed in to make sure that you’re seeing overloads and knowing your rules like, ‘Hey, if I get two from the second level on this side, we have to change it.’
“That comes from film study and seeing little tips so you can know where they’re pressuring from so you can attack it and beat it.”
For everything to work, the quarterback — whether it is Lock or Rypien — and Cushenberry “need to be on the same page,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur noted.
“I think we’re getting better,” Shurmur said. “There are times that you have some mistakes, obviously. I think we’re beyond saying they’re young players. I think we’ve just got to get better in all areas and I think that’s one area where we can tidy it up.”
Improvement at diagnosing defensive intent and adjusting the protection will mean fewer throws under duress. That offers a greater chance to establish proper footwork — which, in turn, leads to greater accuracy, and a more productive passing game.
That is the path to greater success and efficiency.
“That’s the biggest thing that we can keep making progress in,” Lock said. “Yeah, we can get looks that we’ve seen on film and a majority of the time it will be the ones you’ve seen on film, but it’s about us picking up the ones that aren’t always on the film and we don’t get in practice.
“It’s just about being ballplayers out there and keeping these drives alive.”
