Here's why the draft was the easy part of the Broncos' offseason

DENVER — In the offseason that is unlike any other, the draft was the easy part.

The biggest hiccup was an outage to Vic Fangio’s internet connection at the start of Thursday night’s proceedings. It was repaired in five minutes. The rest of the draft progressed smoothly.

“I think we discussed every pick and … we were able to do it over the Zoom communication-wise,” general manager John Elway said Saturday after the draft had concluded. “It’s not like being in the same room.

“Obviously, a lot of times people had to mute because there’s noises in the background and those type of things. The mute button was probably everybody’s friend, but I think communication-wise, we were able to get everything done that we needed to get done and communicate and everybody was on the call.”

The NFL’s decision to keep the draft at its scheduled dates gave Elway, Fangio, Broncos coaches and the football-operations staff some degree of normalcy in an environment that is anything but.

But now comes the hard part: An offseason without in-person work.

The coaches and players begin their three-week “virtual offseason” of teaching Monday. On-field work is off the table. The best Fangio, his staff and players can do is absorb the playbook.

“I’m sure there will be some trial and error with the total communication because now you’re communicating with a bunch of different players at one time and from all different locations,” he said.

Although the defense will incorporate at least two new starters in cornerback A.J. Bouye and defensive end Jurrell Casey, it will be the offense that has the brunt of the changes to absorb, thanks to new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur becoming the team’s fifth different offensive coordinator in as many seasons.

Change is something to which Broncos offensive players have become accustomed, but now they must absorb it without the reinforcement of on-field lessons. The relative youth of the unit — which could include six first- or second-year players in the lineup — exacerbates matters.

“We’re going to see how it goes, but we’re going to be aggressive to push the limits of this teaching situation because it’s critical — especially for our offense and quarterback,” Fangio said.

“We’re going to make the most of it.”

There isn’t another option — other than bagging the offseason entirely. Saints coach Sean Payton chose to do that, but he has a mature team with a Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback and schemes that return intact.

Fangio doesn’t have that luxury.

“I’m sure some of it will be trial and error. We’ll make adjustments as we get through these next three weeks, but I’m confident we’ll get a lot out of it.”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE …

Usually, the post-draft period offers Elway and his personnel staff a chance to catch their collective breath after the manic build-up to the draft.

But what if the Broncos aren’t done adding rookie draftees?

Each year, the NFL holds a supplemental draft for players who are draft-eligible — i.e. three years removed from their high-school graduation — but have chosen to declare for the NFL after the January deadline for entering that year’s draft. Some players are in the supplemental pool voluntarily. Others have it thrust upon them because of a suspension, dismissal from the program or some similar circumstance.

But this year’s supplemental draft might look different if college football has a season that is delayed, altered or even canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because college athletics might have to wait until universities reopen to full capacity, it is possible that professional sports could return — with or without fans in the stands — well before college teams resume play.

That could spur a stampede of early-entry prospects to the supplemental draft. Not all would be eligible; under current rules, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence could not turn pro, since he graduated from high school in 2018. But players who graduated in 2017 could declare for the supplemental draft, opting for a scenario that keeps them in action for 2020, rather than one that could leave them idling while they await a restart of college football.

Making a pick would mean sacrificing an equivalent-round pick in next year’s draft, e.g. a team that used a first-round supplemental pick would be without its first-rounder next year.

Denver has not done this since 1989, when the Broncos took Alabama running back Bobby Humphrey in the first round of the supplemental draft. He played just three seasons with the Broncos, but broke 1,000 yards twice before holding out and missing nearly the entire 1991 season.

Elway said the team’s brass has discussed the possibility of players jumping into the supplemental draft, which is typically held in the second week of July.

“Each week and each day we find out more and more information of where everything’s going,” he said. “I would think with the situation that there is a possibility that there’d be more kids in the supplemental draft — especially kids that were thinking about coming out.”

But no matter what the supplemental pool looks like, Elway expects to have training camp and a season.

“We’re still very positive on the fact, and you know, encouraged by the fact that we think we’re going to have a season that we’ll end up going to training camp, but again, we’ll just have to kind of wait and see and see where that falls. Nobody really knows. We’re going to prepare like we’re able to prepare it, and the plan is to get ready to go to camp at the end of July.”