Welcome, welcome! All are welcome here in the Church of Bo. Kneel at the feet of Saint Blucifer and repent your sins my child, and you shall be saved. In this year of our Bo 2025, the Denver Broncos shall rise again and lead us to the promised land. So it is written, so it shall be!

Alright, enough of that. Let’s talk football. This preview will hit each position group, starting with the offense.

Quarterback: Bo “The Great Orange Hope” Nix

Jayden Daniels may have gotten more press, but Bo Nix ended up with an equally impressive rookie season with just shy of 3800 yards and 29 TDs. He has a ton of hype on his shoulders now, so expect a glorious meltdown in Broncos Country if he starts slow. My expectation? He’s got a rock-solid O-Line protecting him and his greatest asset is his extended amount of experience, so I think he’ll remain solid but not ‘break out.’ I’m not immune to hype though, I’d love to see him take a step forward this year.

Running Backs: J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey, Tyler Badie, Jaleel McLaughlin

There’s a joke in here somewhere about how they’ve got Jaleel McLaugh’in but Dobbins said “JK.” Don’t….don’t read that part.

J.K. Dobbins is a super exciting pickup for the Broncos, complimenting R.J. Harvey. This duo of initial-named backs should both flourish in Sean Payton’s system, and Jaleel McLaughlin should serve as an electric change of pace guy. The O-Line is again a pivotal piece of the puzzle here. If things go to plan, the Broncos ground game could be a threat for the first time in a decade.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant; Evan Engram, Adam Troutman

Sutton was the only sure-fire target for Nix last year, and at first glance that hasn’t changed. Then you see Evan Engram lurking in the shadows and realize that Bo “Touchdown or Checkdown” Nix just got paired up with the YAC King. Marvin Mims Jr was a fun (if inconsistent) deep threat last year, and Payton has been on record saying he wants to involve him more. Jump balls will still belong to Sutton. Troy Franklin has a chance to take a step forward with the emerging Devaughn Vele traded away, and Pat Bryant has a chance to fill the chain-mover role vacated by Tim Patrick. Will all of this coalesce? Not likely. Are we in a better position than last year? I have no fucking clue.

Offensive Line: Same Guys As Last Year

Yeah I’m not going to talk about these guys individually, except to say that Quinn Meinerz and Garrett Bolles are both my dad. The continuity from last year is great news of course, given how well they protected Nix. That said, the depth is still developing here. Fingers crossed that we dodge injuries.

Time for defense!

Secondary: Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss, Jahdae Barron, Talanoa Hufanga

Pat Surtain II is fresh off a DPOY win and a payday, and is the clear defensive leader for the team. The Broncos went bonkers on defense in the offseason. They spent their first rounder on Jahdae Barron, a high-IQ dude who can play anywhere in the secondary, and Talanoa Hufanga who, though he’s coming off a torn ACL, should be up to the task of playing QB spy and laying down the boom.

Linebackers: Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Jonah Elliss, Dre Greenlaw, Alex Singleton

The Broncos have had nasty edge rushers for decades, and that hasn’t changed. The weakness historically has been the ILB position, and the Dre Greenlaw pickup should help. Nik Bonitto will eat again this year, but if we can’t stop the run, it’s gonna be painful in this division with Ashton Jeanty in Pete Carroll’s hands and Jim Harbaugh’s ground and pound approach.

Defensive Line: Zach Allen and the rest

Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto are the most exciting weapons up front for the defense, but the peanut gallery on the D-Line is actually pretty legit. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt like the front 7 were lowkey excellent last year (#1 in sacks, anyone?) and I’m curious to see if more of their names get famous this year.

Coaching Staff: Sean Payton, Joe Lombardi, Vance Joseph

Sean Payton may have a butthole mouth and a checkered past, he may be super hateable, ugly, and seriously his mouth looks like a butthole have you seen it wow, but you know what? I don’t give a fuck as long as we’re winning. It feels good to be off the head coach roulette table. I like the team that he and George Paton have put together through this rebuild period. I like the dynamic between Payton and Nix, too – they remind me of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men In Black, because Sean Payton is old and grumpy and Will Smith is a raw prospect with talent who runs sometimes. Hopefully Bo Nix doesn’t slap Chris Rock, but I wouldn’t rule it out this season.

Joe Lombardi

Look, I don’t know that much about Joe Lombardi. I know he’s Sean Payton’s guy, I think he did well with Nix last year and dialed up deep shots with good timing. Like many Broncos fans, I am eager to see an exciting offense again. Feeling like we can’t win if the opponent gets up by 10 got really, really old.

Vance Joseph

Vance was truly having the time of his life last season. We can only hope to see him again, on the screen, using the diversity in his background to help us out a lot this season! I was an extreme VJ hater, then I wrote a (clairvoyant) horror story about him returning to the Broncos coaching staff, and then he DID return, and then he was GOOD. Like, REALLY good. I hope he sees continued success, so I can officially call myself a VJ enjoyer.

Final Thoughts

I considered writing about the rumors of a new stadium being planned in Denver, but decided against it for now. I have a lot of emotional memories tied to both the original and current Mile High Stadium that go beyond football, but that’s a story for another time.

Instead I’ll reiterate my cautious optimism for this Broncos season. I don’t think Bonix is an elite QB, but I do think he’s good enough to deliver an above average showing this year. I think he’s in the nearly the best situation a young QB could ask for. I also think our team will be fun to watch on both sides of the ball for the first time in a decade, which is all that truly matters to me.

It’s a difficult time to post this video, but I do it every year and I’m not going to quit now: Go America, Go Broncos, and long live DFO. See you out there!