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Broncos' brass deserves the full benefit of the doubt

Ken Pomponio Avatar
February 19, 2016

 

Re-sign Brock Osweiler?

Pass on Osweiler and instead take a gamble on RGIII?

Let Malik Jackson and/or Danny Trevathan walk?

Cut Louis Vasquez and trade Demaryius Thomas?

Use your top draft picks on defense?

To be certain, a challenging and intriguing next few months lie ahead for the Super Bowl 50 champions and Broncos Country.

But whatever happens or doesn’t happen, there can be no doubt that John Elway and the Broncos’ brass deserve the full benefit of the doubt.

And not to confuse the Orange & Blue with another slightly-less successful Mile High City pro sports franchise, but we’ll borrow an infamous line from Bill Geivett: “You have to trust the organization.”

In the case of Elway and Co., though, it’s the complete opposite of fingers-crossed, blind faith.

After all, I’d think we’d all agree it’s pretty easy to place trust in a front office/organization which has:

  • Compiled a 64-26 (.711) record over the last five seasons, winning the division each year and advancing to the Super Bowl twice
  • And they’ve done it with two head coaches, four starting quarterbacks, a run-heavy attack, the most productive offense in modern times and – this past season – one of the greatest defenses in the Super Bowl era
  • Hit it big in free agency, luring the likes of Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware and Wes Welker to the Mile High City, among others
  • Made the right calls, more often than not, on its high-round picks such as Von Miller, Derek Wolfe and Bradley Roby
  • Had a knack of for striking later-round draft gold, uncovering finds such as Julius Thomas, Malik Jackson and Trevathan

All the above, again, has all taken place in one five-year span. And overall under the current ownership — long headed by Pat Bowlen — the Broncos have made more Super Bowl appearances (seven) than they’ve had losing seasons (five).

Think about that for a minute.

Now, sure, there have been some missed opportunities (one-and-done playoff losses to the Ravens and Colts), some dark days (Super Bowl XLVIII), a fax-machine fiasco (Elvis Dumervil) and some draft swings and misses (Montee Ball and Rahim Moore) during these last five years.

In short, there have been risky moves, questionable moves and no-brainer moves, but most of ’em have had a way of working out the right way in the end. And when the last game in this particular five-year time-frame is a dominating upset win in Super Bowl 50, it kinda smooths over the few rough patches and illuminates the whole period in a golden glow.

So while the Broncos are facing some tough and telling decisions in free agency and are headed into a season when they’re sure to get the best from every opponent as the defending champs, is there any other general manager – any other captain – you’d want plotting the course?

Is there any other organization any NFL fanbase could trust more to make the right moves?

Even Mr. Geivett — wherever he’s at these days — knows the answers to those questions.

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