Peter King, on his MMQB.com website recently did his Broncos Training camp report, followed by a short video in his "5 things, I think, I think" series.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/08/21/nfl-training-camp-denver-broncos/
Summary of his 5 thoughts and my take on them.
1) Peyton Manning will be as good as ever
I have to agree with this. I think he's continuing to recover from the nerve damage, as long as he continues to have nerve regeneration I do not think he's hit his peak. His #'s might not top 55 & 5477, due to a stronger scheduled, and an alleged better defense, that might take some opportunities out of his hands, but the emphasis placed on defensive holding might make that a wash. I don't expect 55 & 5477, but I wouldn't be surprised by 50+ and 5000+.
2) Brock Osweiler is ready if needed
He's looked pretty decent in the preseason games so far against backups, but I, personally haven't seen enough of him to say that he is ready if needed. In his report King says "Manning is the franchise; this is a 9-7 team—at best—without him", well I think 9-7 is a huge stretch. I fully understand that he said at best, but with the schedule, they would have to have nearly everything go their way to end up at 9-7 without Manning. The 10 games combined against IND,NE, SD, KC, NFC West, there aren't a lot of Ws floating around there without Manning, even if Brock is ready.
Should Osweiler play a significant amount of competitive downs, then they better do what the Colts didn't and dial down the offense, because so much of what the Broncos do on offense comes from Manning's brain, knowledge and ability to process information. That cannot be replicated and some teams have better systems in place for a QB2 to come in and play. Denver isn't one of those at the moment.
3) Emmanuel Sanders will be a difference maker.
I certainly hope that he is right. I've said before the worst part of losing Eric Decker is throwing away the two years that he and Manning had invested in each other. Part of that cannot be replaced immediately. That's what made Manning so good with Harrison, Wayne & Clark in Indy, was that they were there year after year. Hopefully Sanders can make some say Eric who?, but that will be something I'll have to see happen.
4) Von Miller will be a healthy beast.
Again, this is something that I hope he's 100% correct on. Miller was outstanding in 2012, and made a few plays in 2013, but he wasn't the same player coming off his suspension. Hopefully the rehab will allow him to return at 100% and that he create chaos for QBs starting with Andrew Luck in week 1.
5) DeMarcus Ware is a bit of a question mark.
That's a safe statement. New team/scheme/coming off of an injury. At least Miller has 3 years in the Del Rio system. Hopefully Ware is healthy and ready to make last year look like a distant memory. Having a steady dose of Miller/Ware putting pressure on quarterbacks should set things up fairly well for the back end to make some plays and create turnovers. I'd love to see 30+ sacks, 12 forced fumbles out of this duo.
