Horse Tracks: Broncos’ biggest question marks as OTAs get underway

There are a lot of areas to pay attention to as this young team gets started on offseason workouts.

Good morning, Broncos Country!

OTAs start today and there are tons of questions surrounding this young Broncos team — and no doubt we’ll all be breaking those down over the next three months until the games officially get underway.

But for now let’s talk about some of the biggest question marks of the offseason.

Running back rankings?

Prior to the draft, the Broncos’ top three running backs included Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine and Jaleel McLaughlin.

After taking former Notre Dame running back Audric Estimé in the fifth round and adding undrafted rookie Blake Watson from Memphis. Sean Payton will have to figure out which trio of backs will stay on the roster.

“All these guys, they’re all competing for different roles, spots, roster,” Payton said during the rookie minicamp, noting that he likes to see all of them together to figure out the puzzle of where each fits. “I want to see it, and then we’ll go by what we see. …who knows what we’re going to get? They are two different players…two different types of runners, but we’ll see where it goes.”

Will Courtland Sutton be missed?

The Broncos’ best receiver in 2023 is sitting out OTAs as he tries to demand a new contract.

Sutton was undeniably the best playmaker on the offense last year, with 59 catches for 772 yards, 10 touchdowns and 37 first downs. But outside of the stats, we all remember his clutch TD catches — especially against the Bills:

But Sutton hasn’t been the most consistent playmaker for the Broncos even as the potential has always been there. After a breakout sophomore year, Sutton got injured in year three and missed almost the entire season. In years four and five Sutton was a contributor but nothing flashy, producing just two touchdown catches each year.

Whether Sutton’s demand for more money is warranted is debatable, with good arguments on both sides.

What is less debatable is how much of an impact his absence will have on the offense and the development/chemistry with the new and young quarterbacks.

No doubt Sutton’s experience could be a huge benefit to Bo Nix and Zach Wilson in particular and his reps with all three QBs could be crucial to a good start to the season when Week 1 rolls around and Broncos Country will be expecting perfection from that QB room.

Who will be the starting quarterback?

This is the most obvious question of the offseason and will no doubt be the biggest narrative heading into training camp in August.

Bo Nix — Broncos’ first-round draft pick — has been getting a lot of positive attention lately, but whether his media popularity translates to Week 1 Starter is far from decided.

He’s going to have to prove himself on the field.

Nix will start third on the depth chart behind Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson.

Stidham, Broncos’ 2023 backup who started the final two weeks of the season after Payton benched Russell Wilson, is likely now fighting to keep the backup spot. But whether he’s behind Nix or the newly acquired and much-maligned Zach Wilson remains to be seen.

A lot will fall on Payton to prove he can develop Nix — and to a lesser extent Wilson — into the franchise quarterback we all hope he becomes.

How good/bad/ugly will the defense be?

In my opinion, the bigger question mark heading into the 2024 season isn’t on the offense but rather the defense.

We know the offense is young and will struggle but will hopefully find some rhythm with Payton in control.

But the defense will be absent one of its strongest voices and consistent performers in Justin Simmons. Without Simmons and Josey Jewell on the squad — the two green dot players for the Broncos last season (except when out for injury) — the defense is going to be missing some key veteran communicators.

And that means it could be a bumpy ride on the defensive side of the ball for a few weeks as well. Remember the communication breakdown in Miami when Simmons wasn’t on the field?

Yeah.

Ultimately the defense should be improved as the defensive line was significantly bolstered with the addition of Jonathan Franklin-Meyers in a pick swap with the Jets. And hopefully Caden Sterns and P.J. Locke III stay healthy and make good on the talent promise they’ve shown in the secondary.

But with a mostly unproven group of defensive backs, no more Simmons or Jewell and a still young crew of edge rushers that just lost Drew Sanders to an Achilles injury, the defense is going to need every bit of the offseason to round into form by September.

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