Silva: Fantasy ranking for Broncos’ players highly dependent on who plays QB

Evan Silva with EstablishTheRun.com joined Broncos Country Tonight Monday to talk Fantasy Football, and surprise, surprise - it makes a big difference if the Broncos have Teddy Bridgewater/Drew Lock or if they somehow manage to get Aaron Rodgers as to how one should value the Broncos’ skill players.

“Every time I look at Courtland Sutton or Jerry Jeudy or Javonte Williams on the sheet, I’m thinking ‘who’s the quarterback going to be?’” Silva said, noting that Broncos’ offensive players all have great “untapped upside” but their downside could be the QB.

SIlva believes both Bridgewater and Lock will make starts (and he believes Bridgewater will likely have a few more), but neither QB is ideal for the receivers and running backs, in Silva’s opinion.

“Either way [with Bridgewater or Lock], you’re not going to have a very explosive offense,” Silva told Edwards and Allbright. “If Broncos somehow acquire Aaron Rodgers, all of sudden that elevates everyone - you score way more touchdowns, and gain a lot more yards. So when doing a ranking on Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant, for example, it’s hard to pinpoint them. One day you think Aaron Rodgers will go to the Broncos so you move them up; the next you think he won’t, so they move down.”

The “silva” lining, however (see what I did there?) is that he believes the Broncos “truly are one QB away” from being great this season.

“The Broncos are going to have best defense in AFC West and probably top 10 in the NFL,” he noted, adding that the offensive line took a big step forward in Mike Munchak’s second year and should only get better in his third. “Broncos have a ton of speed and play-making ability at tight end and across the wide receiver corps...and even have depth.”

So in Silva’s mind, there’s a lot to be excited about on both offense and defense. But the quarterback has to play at a high level to take advantage.

“I hope for the Broncos’ sake and the sake of Vic Fangio they get Aaron Rodgers,” Silva added, noting that he doesn’t see a way back to the Packers for Rodgers given all he’s said. “I hope he’s truthful about not wanting to play for Green Bay.”

With or without Rodgers, though, Silva does have a favorite Broncos player to select for fantasy teams.

“Javonte Williams will be the main back,” Silva said, as if he were predicting the second round draft pick’s roster spot as well. “And he’s my favorite Bronco to draft right now.”

Von Miller is the best teammate ever

During the Broncos’ Country Tonight segment Monday known as “NFL Six Pack” - when Edwards and Allbright discuss some of the major NFL headlines over the past week - the Von Miller pass rush summit came up - specifically his comments to a question about Drew Lock versus Aaron Rodgers:

As Edwards and Allbright noted, Miller gave a seasoned veteran’s answer:

“It’s crazy to think about, you know, getting an Aaron Rodgers,” Miller said on Saturday in Las Vegas, where he hosted his fifth annual event. “You put him on any team in the league and he changes that team.”

But Miller also knows who his current teammate is and has no plans of being the guy looking for the greener pastures somewhere else (or in someone else).

“You start thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to get Aaron Rodgers or Deshaun Watson,” Miller said. “But hold on, wait a minute, we’ve got Drew Lock. That’s who we’re running with. That’s who we’re going into the season with until anything changes.”

The co-hosts recalled a time when Miller and Demaryius Thomas attempted to recruit Kirk Cousins to Denver or when Jerry Jeudy made the rookie mistake earlier this offseason sounding excited about the prospect of Deshaun Watson coming to Denver.

But No. 58 knows better now. You ride or die with the guy currently on the team.

But if “the guy currently on the team” changes for any reason - say, a late offseason trade - Miller will no doubt get on board.

“Von Miller has always been the guy to ride with his guys. Von’s quote is more about riding with the guys that are here,” Allbright said on the air. “If Aaron Rodgers is here then he’ll be Aaron Rodgers’ biggest cheerleader, but right now Von is going to be the biggest cheerleader of the guys that are here. Because those are his teammates and that’s the message he’s trying to get across.”

Obviously none of this is news, and we know Von loves to build up his teammates no matter what their talent level. So why even talk about it?

Because I like Miller’s approach and want to point out that he is smarter than the reporters looking for the juicy headline. Miller will neutralize that every time. He loves the guys in the locker room. And when a new guy is added, he loves him too.

So, media, quit trying to trap Miller with a dumba$$ question about the quarterbacks. He loves them all.