Mile High Report
Despite having a top pass and the Defensive Player of the Year in your secondary, the Broncos’ defense had a weakness that teams started to exploit late in the year. That weakness was their linebacker position. They were down Alex Singleton and relied on Cody Barton and career special teamer Justin Strnad to be their starters. It worked for a few weeks, but teams started attacking them late in the year and achieved considerable success.
Well, this offseason, they went out and signed veteran Dre Greenlaw to improve that unit. They were getting back Singleton and had Justin Strnad, Drew Sanders, and Levelle Bailey for depth. This was supposed to fix that weakness, but unfortunately, it remains at least through the first two games of the season.
First, we have to talk about Dre Greenlaw. He is a very talented player when on the field; the problem is, he hasn’t been on the field much at all for the Broncos. Due to a quad injury, he did not practice throughout the offseason, but was good to go for the start of training camp. Unfortunately, that quad injury flared up again, and he missed several practices and did not play in any of the Broncos’ three preseason games. There was some optimism that he would be good to go for week one, but that was not the case. Three straight DNP’s before being ruled out, and he followed that up with another three straight DNP’s before being ruled out vs. the Colts. Payton did tell reporters that we will see Greenlaw sooner rather than later, but they need him as soon as possible.
Then we have veteran Alex Singleton returning from an ACL injury and was named team captain. You would think that would be a good thing, but so far, it has not. While being known for getting a lot of tackles, he has proven to be a liability in coverage. That was the case vs. the Colts when rookie tight end Tyler Warren abused him for a long gain, and running back Jonathan Taylor, who beat him as a receiver for a big gain and then juked him out of his shoes for a big gain on the ground. With that said, Singleton wears the green dot and was voted team captain. He is not a player you can simply bench without a reliable option available.
Even before the injury, Singleton was known for this, but this game really highlighted his weaknesses. Teams attacked this area of the defense last season and did it again in this one. It will continue throughout the year unless they change something up or start playing different players.
The problem is, I do not think they have any answers on the roster. Greenlaw is a huge question mark due to his health, Singleton and Strnad struggle in coverage, Drew Sanders is hurt, and even then is viewed as a “pressure player”, and Karene Reid and Levelle Bailey are unproven. Of the players mentioned,...
