Denver Broncos Season Recap

AFC West	Finished 3rd in Division
Overall Record: 9-7 (2-4 in the division)	Draft Position: 20th
Head Coach: Gary Kubiak	GM: John Elway

Pro Bowlers

• CB Chris Harris
• LB Von Miller
• WR Emmanuel Sanders
• S Darian Stewart
• CB Aqib Talib
• WR Demaryius Thomas

2016 Rankings

	Yards/Game	Points/Game	Passing Yards/Game	Rushing Yards/Game
Offense	27th	22nd	T-21st	27th	TDs – T-24th
Defense	4th	4th	1st	31st	Sacks – T-3rd	INTs – T-12th

Top Passers

Name	Games Started	CMP. PCT.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Passer Rating	QBR
Trevor Siemian	14	59.5	3,401	18	10	84.6	55.5
Paxton Lynch	2	59.0	497	2	1	79.2	28.6

Top Rushers

Name	Rushing Yards	Y/A	TDs
Devontae Booker	612	3.5	4
C.J. Anderson	437	4.0	4

Top Pass Catchers

Name	Receptions	Yards	Y/C	TDs
Demaryius Thomas	90	1,083	12.0	5
Emmanuel Sanders	79	1,032	13.1	5

Top Defensive Players

• LB Todd Davis - 96 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble
• S T.J. Ward - 87 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, 1 INT, 3 forced fumbles
• LB Von Miller - 78 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles
• S Darian Stewart - 68 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 INTs, 1 forced fumble
• CB Aqib Talib - 43 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 INTs

Impending Free Agents

• OLB DeMarcus Ware
• DE Vance Walker
• DT Sylvester Williams
• LS Thomas Gafford
• RB Justin Forsett
• WR Jordan Norwood
• DE Billy Winn
• OLB Dekoda Watson
• CB Kayvon Webster
• WR Marlon Brown

What I Said About Them Before the Season

• Off the top, I expected Denver to go 8-8 and compete for a playoff spot.  They actually had a better record than this by going 9-7 but missed the playoffs due to playing in a really competitive division.  Prior to the season starting, I wrote about their quarterback situation, which required them to choose between rookie Paxton Lynch, sophomore Trevor Siemian, and veteran Mark Sanchez.  I thought that their decision in choosing a quarterback wasn't going to be a big deal due to their talented wide receivers, solid running backs, and experienced offensive line. I guessed, though, that any offensive struggles the Broncos had would be covered up by their elite defense which returned nearly every member from the Super Bowl-winning team last year.

Success/Failure

• Failure - The Broncos are a tough team for me to evaluate because they had a better season than I projected yet they still failed to make the playoffs.  Because of that, and the fact that they missed the playoffs the year after winning a Super Bowl, their season was a failure.  I base that on the idea that the team's quarterback play had a much larger effect on the teams success than I initially thought it would, the offensive line struggled, and the running game was bad. On defense, they were still relatively the same team but their defensive line struggled against the run.

Offseason Needs

• The Broncos need help on their offensive line in a bad way.  Left tackle Russell Okung has gotten old very quickly and the front office should look to begin remedying this problem at this year's draft.  Two mock drafts that I have looked at have the Broncos taking offensive tackles with their first round pick, Ryan Ramczyk out of Wisconsin or Alabama's Cam Robinson.

*All stats and information come from espn.com, nfl.com, pro-football-reference.com, rosterresource.com, spotrac.com, overthecap.com, Foxsports.com, and cbssports.com