Know Your Enemy: The Denver Broncos

Last today, the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos in the the first preseason game for both teams. To help us get ready for the game, I brought in Sayre Bedinger, the editor from Predominantly Orange to answer a few questions. Take a look:

1) I’ve got to start off with Peyton. He looked nothing like the first-ballot HoF QB he’s always been last season. We know he was injured, but we also know how old he is. What are your expectations for the iconic signal caller this year.

I got to see Peyton Manning in person at the outset of camp, and he looks like a new man. He’s completely rejuvenated in this offense, and I’m not just trying to let my eyes see what they want to see.

Both Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas have commended Manning for his improved arm strength despite losing his glove on his throwing hand. He looks phenomenal throwing the ball on the run.

I think Gary Kubiak’s offense has given him renewed life in his NFL career. I expect him to be a top QB once again.

2) I’m expecting that we’ll see a lot of Brock Osweiler this week. What should we expect from him? Has he developed into Peyton’s heir like the Broncos thought he would?

Expect a few misfires, but expect to see his rocket unleashed downfield. Not only will you be seeing a lot of Brock, he’s starting the game. Osweiler is also really athletic for his size, so you will see him move around a lot more and try and escape pressure.

As far as the way he’s developing, that’s really tough to say because we’ve got so much limited regular season film to go off of. Based on preseason and training camp, many are underwhelmed in his first three years. We’ll see what kind of improvements he’s made this season.

3) The offensive line has been an issue at times over the last couple of seasons, were the Broncos able to solidify that unit in the offseason?

The offensive line is still in transition, but a couple of reasons why I think it will be better are addition by subtraction and the new blocking scheme. John Fox and Adam Gase employed ‘some’ zone blocking concepts, but nothing near what Gary Kubiak is implementing.

Kubiak got his own guys in there (Ty Sambrailo at LT, Max Garcia at LG, and Ryan Harris at RT) as well as moving Louis Vasquez back to his original starting spot. It’s going to take them all time to build chemistry, but I think we’ll see an improved line this year.

4) What roster battle has been the most competitive so far in training camp?

Watching the wide receivers compete has been interesting because there are some open spots outside of the top three players at that position (DT, Sanders, and Cody Latimer). There are plenty of young players gunning for a spot or two and I think we’ll see the fruits of that competition in the first pre-season game against Seattle.

5) Which rookie are you most excited to finally see play in a real game?

Shane Ray. Oh man, I really can’t wait to see him play. He’s an absolute beast.

Next: 10 reasons to watch preseason week 1

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