In 1983, the Baltimore Colts held the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Considered the best hope available unanimously or almost, John Elway had however made it clear that he would never play for this organization.
Posted on December 12, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.
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The Colts picked Elway anyway, but ultimately traded him to the Denver Broncos. The following year, we understood Elway’s decision a little better. Colts owner Bob Irsay, father of current owner Jim Irsay, literally moved his team to Indianapolis in the middle of the night.
In what is called the “Mayflower Move” because the Mayflower Company was responsible for the move, 14 trucks carrying all of the Colts’ equipment and supplies had left Baltimore for Indianapolis in the night of March 28, 1984.
Why are we telling you about this story on this beautiful morning in December 2020? Because there is another young quarterback who could very well be the first pick in the next draft in April and who may refuse to join the team that draft him. Like Elway or Eli Manning in 2004. The latter had forced the hand of the San Diego Chargers, who finally traded him to the New York Giants.
Let’s be clear: Trevor Lawrence still hasn’t said he won’t agree to play for the New York Jets or the Jacksonville Jaguars, the two teams that will likely have the top two picks in the 2021 auction. Lawrence has yet to even confirm that he will move to the NFL and may choose to play one final season with Clemson in the NCAA.
That said, if the best option for the Jets or Jaguars were to trade the first pick in the draft, there is a team that would be uniquely positioned to make them an offer that would be hard to refuse. And this team is precisely that of Elway.
PHOTO ELSA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
John Elway, president of football operations and general manager of the Denver Broncos
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Indeed, the Broncos could afford to trade several draft picks, including their first in 2021, which should normally be in the top 10 ; their record is currently 4-8. This would be made possible by the fact that there are many more pieces that are already in place than one might first think in Denver.
Lots of potential
The first thing to know is that the Broncos will have played most of the season without four of their best players. Excellent quarterback Von Miller (ankle tendon) and right tackle Ja’Wuan James (COVID-19 option) didn’t play at all, while wide receiver Courtland Sutton (knee) and tackle Jurrell Casey (biceps) got injured in September and will miss the rest of the season.
Sutton, 25, was expected to be the backbone of a very promising receiving group, which includes rookies Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler, who were the team’s top two picks this year. In addition to those three, the Broncos have wide end Tim Patrick, who just turned 27, and tight end Noah Fant, who is playing his second season and just turned 23. Patrick leads the team with 607 yards and Fant is first with 44 catches.
The Broncos also have a respectable pair of running backs with Melvin Gordon III and Phillip Lindsay, and thanks in part to lessons from unit coach Mike Munchak, the offensive line is improving and should continue to do so.
PHOTO ISAIAH J. DOWNING, USA TODAY SPORTS
Melvin Gordon III (25), Denver Broncos running back
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Left tackle and former first choice Garett Boles is having his best season and recently signed a four-year $ 68 million extension. Graham Glasgow and Dalton Risner make a solid pair of guards and center Lloyd Cushenberry III, a product of LSU, entered the fray in his first season and is expected to improve. With James returning to the game as a right tackle, the Broncos offensive line is expected to be in the top 10 starting in 2021.
Basically the same can be said about the defensive line. With Miller and Casey’s comebacks, this group could be one of the hardest to contain in the NFL. In his third season, winger Bradley Chubb had 7.5 sacks and will be more dangerous with Miller on the other side of the line. Tackle Shelby Harris is having a good campaign, too.
It’s a little more uncertain on the linebacker side, but there are a few quality players in the tertiary line. Justin Simmons is a top safety back and rookie Michael Ojemudia is a promising cornerback.
One of the other defense forces is Vic Fangio, the head coach. Fangio has been a defensive coordinator for 20 seasons in the NFL (Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers and Bears) and his defenses have often been among the tightest in the NFL. Ed Donatell is the defensive coordinator for the Broncos, but we can guess that Fangio is very involved on this side of the ball.
In short, when we analyze the Broncos, we quickly realize that there is a lot of potential within this organization. And we haven’t even talked about Elway, who remains the GM and the perfect person to lead the Broncos, whose logo he has tattooed on his heart.
Is Lock the man for the job?
The big question in Denver is whether Drew Lock represents the long-term solution to the most important position. A second-round pick in 2019, Lock has been sometimes good and sometimes bad since becoming the Broncos’ starting quarterback about a year ago.
Lock’s stats have been very ordinary since the start of his career: 264 for 452 (58.4%) for 2,938 yards (average of 209 per game), nine touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a coefficient of efficiency of 74 , 9. On the other hand, we must remember that he has only 14 games behind him, less than a full season.
PHOTO DAVID ZALUBOWSKI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
2019 second-round pick, Drew Lock (3) became the Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback about a year ago.
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But Elway is not the type to wait very long. And the Hall of Fame member is in a better position than anyone to know if Lock has the potential to be a good starter or not. If he judges that this is not the case, he will probably not hesitate to make a change this winter.
In fact, since Peyton Manning retired after conquering the Broncos five years ago, no team has called on more quarterbacks as a starter. No less than 10 quarterbacks have got at least one start: Lock, Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien and Kendall Hinton. It was of course because of the situation with COVID-19 that Hinton, a wide receiver on the development team, was the starter for a game two weeks ago.
The next month will serve as an assessment in Lock’s case. Elway knows of course that we are starting to get impatient in Denver. Even though he has won two Super Bowls as a player and another as a GM, there is more and more pressure on him. So if he believes it’s necessary, let’s bet Elway will pull off a big blow to find the Broncos’ next quarterback.
Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan could be interesting options through a deal. As we suggested at the beginning of this text, acquiring a top draft pick in order to be able to select Lawrence or Justin Fields is another. Fields is quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes and is rated second quarterback in the NCAA by a majority of pundits.
Either way, the Broncos can afford to sacrifice draft picks to fix their quarterback problem. Thanks to Elway’s good work, this team is much closer to being a winning team again than it seems.
But the Broncos will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs twice per season for the next 10 or 15 years. So to finish first in their division, they will need a very good quarterback.
Miguel Bujold’s predictions
Houston c. Chicago : Chicago
Dallas c. Cincinnati : Cincinnati
Kansas City c. Miami : Kansas City
Arizona c. Giants de New York: Arizona
Minnesota c. Tampa Bay : Tampa Bay
Denver c. Caroline : Caroline
Tennessee c. Jacksonville : Tennessee
Indianapolis c. Las Vegas: Indianapolis
Jets de New York c. Seattle : Seattle
Green Bay c. Detroit : Green Bay
New Orleans v. Philadelphia: New Orleans
Atlanta c. Chargers de Los Angeles : Chargers de L. A.
Washington c. San Francisco : Washington
Pittsburgh c. Buffalo : Buffalo
Baltimore c. Cleveland : Cleveland
Last week: 10-5
Season Total: 121-58-1
THREE MATCHES NOT TO BE MISSED
KANSAS CITY c. MIAMI, DIMANCHE, 13 h
PHOTO DOUG MURRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins cornerback
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The clash between the Vikings and the Buccaneers (also Sunday at 1 p.m.) will have a direct impact on the race for the best runners-up in the National, but the one between Kansas City and Miami will give us the opportunity to measure the improvement of the young Dolphins. . Their defense will undergo its biggest test of the season and it will be particularly interesting to watch the confrontation between their tertiary and the Chiefs’ prolific aerial game. The Dolphins are 15th against the pass (232.8 yards per game), but their pair of cornerbacks of Xavien Howard and Byron Jones are possibly the best on the league. Howard has already managed eight interceptions in addition to defending 16 assists this season, while Jones, who got a big price in the autonomy market in March, doesn’t appear to be tested that often. Jones has only defended two assists and has just 23 tackles.
PITTSBURGH v. BUFFALO, SUNDAY, 8:20 p.m.
PHOTO JOE CAMPOREALE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills quarterback
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The Steelers haven’t been playing well lately and they didn’t deserve to win against Washington. Their receivers have now dropped 31 assists, the worst performance in the league, and have been downright bad in the last two games. On the other side of the ball, injuries continue to add up. After Devin Bush and Bud Dupree, who will no longer play in 2020, it is Robert Spillane and Joe Haden who have fallen in battle. Both players are expected to miss the game in Buffalo. The Bills put on a brilliant performance against the 49ers on Monday night. Josh Allen completed 32 of his 40 passes for 375 yards and threw four touchdown passes. It earned him the title of the American Offensive Player of the Week for a third time this season. Allen has suffered just three sacks in his last three games. The confrontation on the line of scrimmage should therefore be very interesting as the Steelers defense will try to set a record by hitting at least one sack in a 70e match in a row. The Buccaneers had made it 69 straight games from 1999 to 2003.
BALTIMORE c. CLEVELAND, LUNDI, 20 h 15
PHOTO NICK WASS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) vs. Dallas Cowboys
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The Ravens found their way back to victory with a strong game against Dallas on Tuesday night, and they’ll need to keep winning if they want to make the playoffs for a third straight year. There are at least nine teams battling for one of the seven available spots that give access to the tournament, and right now the Ravens and Raiders, both of whom are 7-5. , would be the two teams excluded. Lamar Jackson played his best game in a long time against the Cowboys. Without tight end Mark Andrews and wide end Willie Snead IV, Jackson threw two touchdown passes and added a third to the ground. For the Browns, it will be another opportunity to demonstrate that they are now a top team for the American. The key to the game may well be running defenses, with the Browns and Ravens having two of the most effective ground games in the league.
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