Today’s question about the Broncos comes from Rod Ridley in Grand Junction.
Q: Back in the day, when the Broncos lost Super Bowls and everyone was blaming John Elway, I don’t remember him ever playing defense. The mess that Josh McDaniels left this team in is going to take awhile to fix, and I’m afraid it’s not just the quarterback position. There are a ton of holes to fill on both sides of the ball. Do you see major changes coming with key positions or just more of the same?
A: Rod, while quarterback has received the bulk of attention this season, and while moving the team forward to the playoff tier will require a long-term decision at quarterback, most personnel executives around the league whom I speak to regularly say the Broncos need to pay more attention to their defense.
And by more attention, they mean finding some kind of consistency about what the Broncos want to play on defense and then choosing players, year after year, that fit that system the best.
The Broncos’ list of defensive woes over the last two-plus seasons alone is something to consider.
Part of it is personnel, and at least some of the struggles have to be attributed to the fact that Dennis Allen is now the sixth defensive coordinator the team has had over the last six seasons — a list that goes from Larry Coyer to Jim Bates to Bob Slowik to Mike Nolan to Don Martindale to Allen. That’s a diverse list of schemes, personalities and playbook desires.
That means the Broncos have basically selected defensive players in six consecutive drafts, including the draft before Coyer’s last season on the job (2006), with a certain coordinator/defensive playbook in mind, only to be using neither the scheme nor the defensive play-caller by the time the next draft rolled around.
That’s no way to live, and it’s one of the reasons the Broncos haven’t maintained or nurtured their draft classes overall, but especially on defense. One year’s coach is not looking for the same kind of player that the previous year’s coordinator may have been.
So the Broncos have basically retooled on defense in each of the last five seasons.
The Broncos have just three players from the 2009 draft left on the 53-man roster, three from the 2008 draft and just one from the 2007 draft. The Packers, by contrast, have 14 players from those three drafts alone — and 34 of their draft picks in all — on the roster that faced the Broncos on Sunday.
So, given the fact that the current regime also has promised to build through the draft and how far the team has to go, there figure to be plenty of changes in the coming couple of offseasons.
John Elway has said his goal is to make the team younger and more athletic as he progresses in his role as the top personnel voice. That means changes will be coming all over the depth chart, but especially on defense.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
