It’s hard to contain the excitement around the Denver Broncos right now. Even with the injury news from training camp, there is a feeling around the team that might make many in Broncos Country feel uncomfortable.
As Ian St. Clair and I sat down to discuss training camp on the MHR Radio Podcast, there was an air of excitement. I kept circling back to a feeling to which I almost felt I wasn’t entitled. It feels like the Broncos are going to be good.
I know how easy it is to get swept up in training camp excitement. How simple we can get carried away with the possibility of a new era of winning. That’s a feeling we all know too well in Broncos Country, only to be let down by the product on the field when the season starts.
It isn’t that I don’t believe the feeling is warranted. I just don’t know if I can trust it. We have been fooled before, and recently.
Emmanuel Sanders hit Jerry Jeudy to work out up because Sanders wanted to learn from him. Jeudy said he learned from him too.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) August 24, 2020
Pretty incredible.
The new crop of rookies has us salivating. Jerry Jeudy seems so good he has veterans like Emmanuel Sanders training with him in hopes of learning from him. KJ Hamler was spotted on the sidelines taking notes because he couldn’t practice because of a hamstring injury. Even that got me hyped.
Something like to see from rookie. #Broncos @Kj_hamler is out with hamstring injury. But he’s at practice taking notes. Can’t hurt to be mentally prepared when leg is healed #Denver7
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) August 25, 2020
The offense has too many weapons to go through them all. The obvious names like Courtland Sutton and Phillip Lindsay are constantly out there. Even still, the young talent has made it so guys like Noah Fant are sometimes lost in the mix.
Imagine forgetting about a tight end that was top ten in the league in 2019 because of all the new talent that John Elway has surrounded Drew Lock with.
And that’s the key. The Denver Broncos are worthy of your excitement because of Drew Lock. Not in spite of him, like recent QBs.
When experts look at a team to determine how good they will be, a big part of that is quarterback play. Lock’s play has got the Broncos to an over/under of 7.5 wins. Maybe that feels low, or maybe that feels high, but if you believe in him, you better take the over.
Why are the #Broncos at over/under 7.5 wins? Johnny Avello, @DKSportsbook director of operations, offered some insight for #BroncosCountry. He also talks about what he looks for when analyzing #NFL teams. https://t.co/wMuAPcTSKg
— Play Colorado (@Colorado_Play) August 21, 2020
We know fool’s gold in Denver. Case Keenum and Joe Flacco were just that. A mirage of talent. Nothing elite about them. So, we also know disappointment after excitement.
I told Ian on the show that I felt like I shouldn’t be excited, but I can’t contain myself. This feels different. It hits in a way that is more reminiscent of the early days of Peyton Manning in Denver. The expectations might be different, but the thumping of my heart is the same.
Maybe this article will get thrown in my face in November. Maybe that over/under bet should be the under. I don’t know. What I do know is that Lock is surrounded with weapons, and it’s his team, and that has me believing again. Maybe I’m deranged.