NFL team reports:
Case Keenum holds key for Broncos, but how much improvement can Jets expect?
Three offseason questions facing the Broncos:
Is Case Keenum the answer at quarterback?
For the first time since 2015, the Broncos will head to training camp without an open competition at quarterback.
Denver signed veteran Case Keenum in March and, despite doing extensive research into the top quarterback prospects in the draft, passed on picking a rookie.
Instead, Keenum is entrenched as the starter and 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch and 2017 seventh-rounder Chad Kelly will compete to be No. 2.
“I appreciate it, for sure,” receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. “I went out to the team store and I saw Case Keenum jerseys. I was like, ‘Thank God, I don’t have to deal with that again.’ Case is our guy.”
If Keenum can duplicate the success he had after becoming the starter in Minnesota last season, the Broncos have a chance to compete in the AFC West. Yet if Keenum regresses, starts committing turnovers or can’t consistently lead scoring drives, the Broncos will find themselves in the quarterback market again.
How warm is Vance Joseph’s seat?
John Elway considered firing Joseph after the Broncos finished 5-11 in his first season as head coach but ultimately chose to retain him as Joseph made significant changes to his staff. The most notable adjustments are on offense, which is understandable given that unit’s struggles last season. Bill Musgrave, who replaced Mike McCoy in the second half of last season, is running the offense, with new position coaches for running backs and wide receivers. Joseph changed his special teams coaching staff and detailed more specific assignments for assistant coaches.
One notable move was giving defensive line coach Bill Kollar a new pupil in pass rusher Von Miller, who previously worked almost exclusively with the linebackers. Elway has expressed confidence in Joseph’s managerial style and teaching abilities, but if the Broncos wind up out of playoff contention again — and wasting another year with good defensive talent — don’t expect Elway to be patient.
How will the Broncos replace Talib?
When the defense led the Broncos to the Super Bowl 50 ti- tle, it did it in large part because of the No Fly Zone secondary. But with safety T.J. Ward released after the 2017 preseason and all-pro cornerback Aqib Talib traded to the Rams, does the No Fly Zone exist anymore?
The remaining cornerbacks, Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby, will say yes, and it’s more about a mind-set and style of play than personnel.
“No Fly Zone has been a standard and that’s what it’s going to continue to be,” Roby said.
That might be true, but Talib will be extremely difficult to replace. Roby, a former first-round pick entering his contract year, likely will be the new starter opposite Harris, with a push from free agent addition Tramaine Brock.
But as much as the Broncos will need Roby, Brock and rookie Isaac Yiadom to try to duplicate Talib’s production (11 interceptions in the past four years, including six pick-sixes), they will need to replace Talib’s intensity.