Thread: Broncos OTAs news

What we’ve learned about broncos offense.

https://youtu.be/tqRWbyz2aPo


What are realistic expectations for coach Hackett.

https://youtu.be/VzCWVfQSxmE


National perspective, broncos getting a very driven Wilson.

https://youtu.be/gRQuNHYTdi8


Pretty awesome stuff, love seeing the clips. Greg Dulcich moves around so fluid and fast it’s scary. I see a mismatch all day.

Otas highlights

https://youtu.be/_oR353_W9iQ

https://youtu.be/uhHsLhWHceY

Best corner in the league PS2 speaking at otas

https://youtu.be/pECzoyBEq1Y

Dude sounds like a vet and knows he’s elite.

https://youtu.be/CFDrM_tRduc
Man having a HC whose truly smart and understands all 3 phases of the game is awesome…. Fangio could never!

Is baron browning about to be a secret weapon at OLB???

https://youtu.be/BqB9wDbLyn0

Hearing him speak and then hearing coach hack and the DC talk about how he has that bend and acceleration around the edge is starting to make me think this staff is onto something with this switch.

https://youtu.be/tgarzcpl7-8

Otas highlights from today! Man Wilson looks awesome and I gotta give props to our backup josh Johnson I believe is his name. He looks like the perfect back up. He’s been making plays In otas.

Love seeing AO get vertical! As well as Sutton on deep balls from Wilson!

Got damn it’s going to be great having a offense that can score lots of points again.

Denver Broncos players praising corner back M-O for coming back this year taking the next steps to be great. I love when guys realize what they did the prior year wasn’t good enough and come back on there shit!

https://youtu.be/S44W1axiCdA

Keep it up M-O!

Surtain, Williams from the 49ers , MO, Darby, and the rookie Mathis is going to be a pretty lethal group of corners IMO.

(CBS SPORTS) – The Denver Broncos were one of the big winners of the NFL offseason, and you can feel the excitement in the Mile High City. Ever since the days of Peyton Manning, the Broncos have struggled to field a legitimate starting quarterback. This season, that will change, as Denver traded for Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson.

While we are just in June, Wilson has already made his mark on his new team. This week, starting offensive guard Dalton Risner appeared on Xfinity Monday Live to discuss the upcoming season with Michael Spencer. He said that Wilson has been better than advertised, not only as a quarterback, but as a leader and teammate.

“It’s been a privilege to get to know this man, No. 3. And I’m not just talking about

rest, plus video - https://denver.cbslocal.com/2022/06/...ntire-offense/

https://youtu.be/aQMqCUfKzT8

Melvin Gordon speaking.

https://youtu.be/5mVgha1GYqw

Ronald Darby speaking.

Russell Wilson football is the number one priority!!!!

https://youtu.be/C-FydxzpWv8


Coach Hackett: we just want to set the standard and keep attacking!

https://youtu.be/R4QrSnNaJoA

Hearing about Cush coming down and doing 1 thousand snaps with Wilson is awesome, people had counted Cush out when we brought in coach Hackett as if he didn’t fit the system but all he’s done is put in the work and showed up to otas ready to ball!

https://youtu.be/fbMCBgQDU1g

What stood out day one of mandatory mini camp? From db.com

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When the Broncos opened their first organized team activity practice to the media last month, the 11-on-11 periods began and ended in the red zone and were dominated by Russell Wilson and the offense. It was as if the organization was trying to showcase just how much its fortunes were about to change with the addition of the franchise quarterback.

As the Broncos opened their three-day minicamp Monday, the script once again moved work inside the 20-yard line for the bulk of practice. This time, it was the other side sending a message, providing a reminder that this is a roster featuring many of the same players who helped form one of the NFL’s best red zone defenses the past two seasons. The unit may no longer have Vic Fangio as its architect, but lost in the understandable fervor of Wilson’s arrival, and that of an offensive-minded new head coach in Nathaniel Hackett, is the fact that Denver still has the talent to win games on defense — especially if that group won’t be asked to do so every week.

Wilson ended his day by threading a needle for a touchdown pass to Albert Okwuegbunam in the back of the end zone, but that and an explosive run by Javonte Williams in the first-team offense’s opening red zone period were among the few highlights that didn’t belong to the defensive side of the ball. Whether it was Mike Purcell, Bradley Chubb or Dre’Mont Jones batting down passes at the line of scrimmage, cornerbacks Michael Ojemudia, K’Waun Williams and Damarri Mathis knocking balls away in the end zone or the entire group converging to stuff a goal-line run at the 1-yard line, the defense showed flashes of the unit that has allowed opponents to score touchdowns on only 45.6 percent of their red zone trips since 2019, by far the stingiest mark in the league during that span.

The Broncos may be in for more track-meet games now that they have an offense capable of setting a more torrid pace, but efficiency in the red zone is one place a proud defense should be unwilling to cede any ground. Not when they already have the blueprint.

“They do a great job communicating, and it gives us a challenge every single day,” said Hackett, who calls plays for Denver’s offense. “We had a couple good runs, a couple things pop here and there. We just have to keep battling against each other.”

Perhaps most encouraging for the Broncos on Monday was the fact that a number of the team’s new additions on that side of the ball demonstrated how they may be able to strengthen an already talented and experienced group.

The Broncos didn’t sign D.J. Jones solely to fortify an already stout red zone operation, but it was easy to see Monday how his presence will help Denver in that regard. During a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line, the 305-pound nose tackle, who signed a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency after spending the past five seasons in San Francisco, quickly occupied two interior linemen, allowing the linebacker behind him to spring into the hole and put the clamps on running back Mike Boone. K’Waun Williams, another new addition who played the past five seasons with the 49ers, also had a diving deflection of a Wilson pass in the red zone, showcasing the kind of playmaking ability that made him a coveted target for general manager George Paton as he sought to fill the team’s nickel spot in free agency.

Then there was Mathis, the fourth-round rookie out of Pittsburgh, who made a pair of nice plays on well-placed balls near the sideline Monday, including a breakup of a pass intended for Tyrie Cleveland in the back of the end zone on the final play of practice. (Cleveland appeared to suffer a knee injury on the play and had to be taken off the field on a medical cart.)

“I like him a lot; he’s really athletic and can run,” veteran Ronald Darby said of Mathis. “He’s willing to learn. He (could be) a real good player.”

Rookie Nik Bonitto, Denver’s top pick in April at No. 64, had his most productive day during practices that have been open to the media, applying heavy pressure on backup quarterback Josh Johnson during a play in which Johnson was moving to his right in an effort to evade the young edge rusher. Bonitto is part of an outside linebacker group that may have become the team’s deepest unit this offseason, and that’s with marquee signee Randy Gregory not set to participate until training camp as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery. Chubb put together another strong day after being highly disruptive during the final OTA practice open to the media last week. Second-year player Aaron Patrick also came up with a would-be sack during Monday’s practice. Paton will have some tough decisions to make with this group.

Here are a few more notes and observations from Monday’s practice:

• Running back Melvin Gordon III made his first on-field appearance this offseason since signing a one-year, incentive-laden deal worth up to $4 million. The market may not have materialized for Gordon the way the 29-year-old would have liked after rushing for more than 1,900 yards and scoring 20 total touchdowns the past two seasons, but he said he is happy nonetheless to be back in Denver for a third season, especially amid heightened expectations for the team.

“The ultimate goal, made on Day 1 since we’ve been playing as little kids, is to hold that Lombardi Trophy up, so that’s the goal in mind,” said Gordon, who did not participate in OTA practices but has been at the facility frequently, attending one-on-one meetings with Wilson and Hackett to get a firmer grasp on the playbook. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get there.”

Gordon also made clear that he didn’t sign with the idea he’d volunteer to play backup to Javonte Williams, the second-year player who is coming off an impressive rookie season in which he shared the carries equally with his veteran teammate.

“George (Paton), when I was at the (negotiating) table with him, I told him I’m not going to lay down,” Gordon said. “I’ve always had that mindset that I’ve got to go get it. There’s always someone they’re bringing in to take your job.

“I know a lot of people want me to take a back seat. I get it. It’s been that way for a while. It was that way with the Chargers when they wanted Austin (Ekeler) to start. Now, I just come out here and do my thing. Thanks for the motivation, everybody.”

Gordon, for what it’s worth in the middle of June, looked fresh and explosive in his limited carries Monday. He said he studied the playbook extensively on his own while training in California earlier this offseason and has since taken a crash course on the system by meeting individually with Wilson, who was his quarterback for one season at the University of Wisconsin. As much as a portion of the fan base may be ready for Williams to have a more pronounced role, every indication is that Hackett will depend on a relatively even split of carries, one that will incorporate Gordon heavily into the team’s offensive attack.

“He’s been a great running back in this league for a long time,” said Hackett, who added that Gordon will fit “very well” into the team’s outside-zone scheme. “You can’t have too many good running backs. He’s a powerful runner downhill who, at the same time, is able to stretch the outside of the zone, so we’re happy to have him.”

• Wilson will bring his receivers to San Diego for another throwing session in July, the quarterback said Monday. He brought a group of roughly a dozen offensive players, including center Lloyd Cushenberry III, to his estate in Southern California in March, shortly after he was traded to the Broncos, and Wilson said he is eager to get another large group together just before the start of training camp.

“We’ll let guys get away (first),” Wilson said Monday. “We’ve been going for, I don’t know, two and a half months now, so we’ll let the guys get away, travel, spend time with family, what it is, and the last couple weeks (of July) we’ll really spend some quality time before we come back (for training camp).”

Even on a day when the defense clearly got the upper hand, the Wilson-led first-team offense had its moments during non-red zone plays, with the quarterback continuing to show impressive chemistry with Okwuegbunam. The running game, as much as such a thing can be evaluated in practices without pads, also appears to be strong. The operation as a whole seems well ahead of the pace the Broncos have been able to set at this time of year during their half-decade streak of losing seasons, and Wilson said he feels “extremely confident” in the progress the unit is making.

“Everybody’s terminology and understanding of the game and the whys of the game, guys are obsessed with it,” Wilson said. “I think of the line and how connected they are. We’re going to have a really good football team.”

• There were no unexcused absences at the team’s minicamp practice Monday, but a handful of players were either full spectators or were at least held out of the team portions of practice: tight end Eric Tomlinson (lower extremity), offensive tackle Billy Turner (knee), outside linebacker Gregory (shoulder), wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, wide receiver Seth Williams, outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper (finger), defensive lineman Matt Henningsen (calf), tight end Greg Dulcich, safety Caden Sterns and linebacker Josey Jewell.

Hackett has largely been vague about descriptions of player injuries or their timelines this offseason, but he has said most players are being held out for “precautionary” reasons.

• The Broncos once again worked on their punt return formations during the early portion of the team’s practice, and the players revolving into the returner role were wide receivers Montrell Washington and Kaden Davis and running back Tyreik McAllister. Davis and McAllister are undrafted rookies and Washington is a fifth-round pick out of Samford.

Does anyone know who got hurt and is on crutches?

Originally Posted by pnbronco

Does anyone know who got hurt and is on crutches?

It might be this, which was yesterday - https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/...-injury-update