With the NFL’s scouting combine set to open Tuesday and free agency to follow March 10, Tuesday marks the ninth, and final, installment of a position-by-position look of where things stand for the Denver Broncos at each spot on the depth chart, the salary-cap commitment, free agents and where their needs are greatest.
Tuesday: Special teams | Rest of the series
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he Broncos are faced with some decisions in these units as the roster figures to get more than a tweak or two with the new coaching staff having arrived. The Broncos, particularly when injuries at linebacker affected their personnel groupings on special teams, were spotty in coverage units at times last season.
And until Omar Bolden provided some pop in the return game down the stretch, they had little impact in punt or kickoff returns. They also carried three kicking specialist for the second half of the season – placekicker Connor Barth, kickoff specialist Brandon McManus and punter Britton Colquitt.
“It’s wide open,’’ newly-hired special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said. “You’ve got to look at all those things.’’
The Alpha: Special teams captain David Bruton Jr. will now have to go about the business of showing a third coaching staff how he can contribute. He was drafted by Josh McDaniels – he’s the only player in the Broncos’ 2009 draft class who remains on the team – and has always been a prominent players on the special teams units, but last season. in his fourth year with John Fox's staff, he also found a role in the defense having played at least 27 snaps in each of the last four games of the regular season, at least 43 snaps on defense in three of those games.
Salary cap: Colquitt leads the way with a $3.75 million cap figure for the upcoming season. Barth, who signed in November, is scheduled to count $745,000 against the cap for ’15, while McManus, who had and then lost the placekicking job after Matt Prater was released, is slated to count $510,000. Bolden, who showed significant promise as a kickoff returner, will count $778,607 against the cap while Bruton will count $1.65 million.
Pending free agents: Since he made the Broncos roster as an undrafted rookie in 2012, long snapper Aaron Brewer has been one of the most consistent players in the league at his position. Brewer rarely snaps a bad ball, or even a slightly bad ball. He is set to enter his fourth season so he is a restricted free agent the Broncos will be looking to tender a one-year offer and bring back for '15.
Who could stay: DeCamillis said last week that he was set to begin a review of the team’s special teams units. Barth certainly showed enough as a kicker – he was 15-of-16 on field-goal attempts in the regular season, including two games with five field goals – to stay in the role. And at season’s end the Broncos appeared to be leaning that way, but Barth doesn’t kick off, or at least not as consistently deep as is needed. So, any decision about him as the placekicker comes with that caveat.
Who could go: When the Broncos traded a conditional draft pick to the New York Giants – it eventually ended up being a seventh rounder – to secure McManus their feeling at the time was because of his leg strength he presented a potential long-term option. But he showed what many kickers show in their first attempt at the job in the NFL – inconsistency – and he missed four kicks in the team’s first 11 games. In a perfect world the Broncos would like to have a kicker or punter who also could be used on kickoffs and that is McManus’ advantage over Barth over the long haul, but he has to show he can make field goals when the team needs him to.
What they like/want: DeCamillis will be on the hunt for speed in the coverage units.
Need index (1 is low priority, 5 the highest): It’s a 3. They need to sort out having three kicking specialists to go with a long snapper as well as far more potential impact among their punt returners. As a team they averaged 7.2 yards per punt return last season – tied for 20th in the league. But there is plenty to work with on the roster overall.