Horse Tracks: Broncos reinforce offense in 2018 NFL Draft

Good morning, Broncos Country.

The Denver Broncos entered the 2018 NFL Draft with the expectation that they would wind up with a potential franchise quarterback for the future. After three days of excitement, the team ended up selecting a handful of players on the offensive side of the ball, but not one of them was a signal-caller. Despite that, the Broncos had a wildly successful draft on paper and one that they hope will translate into an immediate impact on the field.

The additions of Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman, DaeSean Hamilton and Troy Fumagalli addressed needs at multiple positions that were in desperate need of upgrades. With Sutton and Hamilton, the Broncos have the potential for one of the league’s best receiver corps. Can you imagine four and five wide sets with Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Carlos Henderson and the two aforementioned rookies on the field at once? Good luck to opposing secondaries on trying to cover that line-up. Production at the receiver position outside of Thomas and Sanders the past two seasons has been non-existent, so expect a significant uptick in that regard for the coming season.

Selecting Freeman gave the franchise a running back with exceptional vision and production who has a chance to make a large impact right away. He is a phenomenal fit for Denver, who appear to be leaning strongly towards having a predominantly zone-based rushing attack, which he excelled in at the University of Oregon. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Freeman is the franchise’s number one back when the Broncos open the regular season against the Seattle Seahawks in early September.

Last but not least, Fumagalli may have not been the top-flight tight end some fans across Broncos Country were hoping for in this year’s draft, but he’s a productive player who should have a chance to compete with significant playing time alongside fellow Big Ten products Jeff Heuerman and Jake Butt. Here is to hoping that the trio will be able to perform much better than what the Broncos have been able to get out of their tight ends the past several seasons, which has been essentially nothing — so in reality it would be hard for this area of the team to be a disappointment in 2018.

The big winner with all these picks? Case Keenum. It’s no surprise that by forgoing selecting a quarterback in this draft, that the team believes in him. They took the right approach by surrounding him with the weapons necessary to have a successful year with the team. Count me in as one fan who is more than pleased with how this year’s draft turned out, and is confident that with the above selections, the Broncos’ offense can become much better than what we have all witnessed in recent memory.

As always, thank you for reading and here is today’s offering of Horse Tracks.

Horse Tracks

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