Mile High Report
Later tonight, we will see our Denver Broncos take the field for their preseason opener vs. the San Francisco 49ers. The two teams held a joint practice on Thursday, where the Broncos dominated on both sides of the ball for most of the practice, and will look to do the same tonight.
As we have in the past under Sean Payton, we will see our starters for a little while tonight before handing it over to the second and third team offenses and defenses. This will be our first look at the Broncos on the field since their wildcard loss back in January, and there are certain things I’d like to see from them during this preseason opener.
With all that said, here are the five things I would like to see from the Broncos during their preseason openers vs. the 49ers.
Throughout camp, all the talk has been about how good the Denver Broncos’ defense looks, and it has been warranted. However, it is time for the Broncos’ offense to shine, and I hope we see that from Bo Nix and the Broncos’ starting offense.
As Payton noted, the starters will play in this game, while most of the 49ers’ key starters will be on the bench. I want to see Bo Nix and company move the ball, look good while doing it, and put some points on the board. I don’t care if it is against backups; I just want to see this offense look good, move the ball, and find the end zone.
If they do struggle, the talking heads will be loud, and while that’s all noise, it’s not something I wanna deal with. Silence the doubters, score some points, and show the NFL that the Broncos offense looks for real heading into the regular season.
The Broncos roster is full of young players looking to break out this upcoming season, and I hope we see a handful of skill position players do just that tonight vs. the 49ers. You have multiple young running backs, a receiver room full of talented young playmakers, and a high-upside developmental project at tight end who could turn some heads.
The obvious candidates are wide receiver Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant, running back R.J. Harvey, and tight end Caleb Lohner.
Franklin had himself a strong offseason and has carried that over into training camp. He had his best overall practice a few days ago and stood out again in the joint practice vs. the 49ers. I hope we see him dominate again on the field tonight and continue pushing for a larger role in this offense.
Rookie Pat Bryant has been solid throughout camp while being a heavily targeted player by all three quarterbacks. If that continues in this game, we could see Bryant with an impressive stat line and some momentum towards a large role in this offense...
