Offseason Moves and Draft Needs: AFC West

Apr 12, 2019

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In the fourth article in this eight-part series detailing offseason moves and draft needs, I will be examining the AFC West with an emphasis on dynasty leagues.

More Divisions: AFC East | AFC North | AFC South | NFC East | NFC North

Denver Broncos

What Changed

Denver was active before free agency even began by trading for Joe Flacco and then subsequently shipping Case Keenum to Washington. An under the radar move that absolutely shouldn’t be ignored was the Broncos hiring of Mike Munchak to coach their offensive line. There will be immediate positive results from Munchak. The Broncos also enforced this position by signing Ja’Wuan James to a huge contract. While James is unlikely to live up to his salary, you would have to think that the Broncos finally have their right tackle situation figured out. There wasn’t much of a change at the skill position spots, however.

The Impact

Is Flacco for Keenum an upgrade? Most likely and this scheme and new surroundings could do Flacco a world of good, but don’t expect a huge jump in production from Denver’s quarterback position. Still, to some degree, this helps the Broncos receivers, at least for the short term. Better line play is certainly a help to all.

What To Expect

John Elway might look to this draft to find his quarterback of future. But maybe more likely—and his recent offseason moves suggest this—the Broncos are looking to win now with Flacco running the show. Maybe quarterback needs to wait a year. The offensive line could use more young reinforcements and it isn’t out of the question for Denver to add another wideout. But it is the tight end that should be Elway’s top offensive area to address in this draft and could even go that direction in the first round. This would be a fantastic dynasty landing spot for one of the draft’s top tight ends.