JaguarsTalk: Jaguars vs Broncos in London

JT: Ello Guvnah. The Jags meet the Broncs in the dodgy end. Eight is a lot of legs David.

The Jaguars travel across the pond to face the Denver Broncos on Oct. 30 in Wembley Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPN at 9:30am. 9:30 am? Looks like I’m watching this one on my iPhone in a tree stand. The big boys better come through early that day. The Broncos have themselves a new quarterback, Russell Wilson. They have new owners, a new general manager, and a new head coach as well. Has this ever been done before? The Broncos are an entirely new organization. The are now owned by The Walton-Penner group who paid a whopping $4.65 billion. That’s a lot of cheddar for the storied franchise. Can Russell Wilson follow in the footsteps of John Elway and Peyton Manning? Can Jacksonville stop him? Will Coach Doug Pederson have tea with the Queen? One of these questions may have a yes answer, but which one? JaguarsTalk will break down this NFL showdown in the heart of London, England and see if we can’t shed some light on things.

JaguarsTalk has Jacksonville sitting at 5-2 on a four game winning streak, beating the Eagles, Texans, Colts, and Giants. In week eight they face the completely redesigned Denver Broncos. This will be a tough game for the Jags. Russell Wilson is the best quarterback that the Jaguars defense will have faced thus far, but I am not convinced it is the best offense that they have faced to date. That distinction belongs to the Los Angeles Chargers, a game Jacksonville lost in week three. Wilson has become more and more of a beatable QB over the course of his career however this change to Denver may be a rebirth of sorts. Wilson is no longer throwing to, freak of nature, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett but he isn’t losing too much skill by tossing the ball to Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy in Denver. The Broncos also have a young and tough starting running back in Javonte Williams out of UNC. To spell Williams is Melvin Gordon III, a solid back-up who could start for some other NFL teams. The Broncos O-line is somewhat questionable at this point. Several of Denver’s linemen are still competing for the starting position and being moved around to different spots to see what works best. This may present a plus for fast defenses like the one in Jacksonville. However, by week eight Denver will have solidified their O-line for better or worse. But make no mistake, this is the Achilles heel of the Denver offense. Albeit a small heel. Like a baby’s heel.

The main problem that the Jaguars defense will have with Denver is WR Courtland Sutton. If he can be silenced, contained, or slowed down, then I think Jacksonville has a chance to keep Denver’s scoring under 25 points. The Jacksonville DBs will be helped tremendously by Travon Walker and Josh Allen. The issue is Russell Wilson’s escapability. The man can boot scootin’ boogie better than both Brooks and Dunn. So then the question becomes can linebackers Devin Lloyd, and Foye Oluokun help to contain a scrambling Wilson as well as stop the Broncos run game with help from Fatukasi, Hamilton and Robertson-Harris? I think that this match-up will tell us more about how good the Jaguars are than any other game thus far. It will be difficult to slow the Denver offense for the entirety of the game. They will certainly get their points.

The Denver defense is an interesting story. The Broncos have essentially revamped almost everything. It’s as if they are an expansion team this year. Being so, it means that they will rely heavily on their draft, so let’s take a look at how they did this year. The Broncos first round pick this year disappeared with the acquisition of new quarterback Russell Wilson, so in the second round the Broncos went with Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto. This is a necessary pick for Denver as they need edge rushers. There is no more Von Miller in the mile high city and he will be very difficult, if not impossible, to replace. In the third round Denver took TE Greg Dulcich out of UCLA to give Wilson another target. We here at JaguarsTalk aren’t necessarily keen on this pick. Denver may have been better rewarded by another front seven or even an O-lineman selection. In the fourth, with the 115th overall pick, out of Pitt, cornerback Damarri Mathis was chosen. The defense is where Denver needs to concentrate thus, so far, it seems like a decent draft. Also in round four, Eyioma Uwazurike was chosen from Iowa State. He is a defensive lineman which will help Denver solidify their brand new defense. In round five, with the 152nd pick, the Broncos took Delarrin Turner-Yell, a safety from Oklahoma. Again, another defensive pick. It would seem that the new Broncos brass knows their weaknesses and are trying to plug those holes through young draft picks. Montrell Washington is a wide receiver out of Samford that became the Broncos second fifth round choice of the 2022 draft. Their third fifth round pick was offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg out of Washington. In round six they picked a D-lineman from Wisconsin, Matt Henningsen and in round seven cornerback Faion Hicks from Wisconsin was chosen. Denver may have jumped the gun on TE Greg Dulcich, but that may have been a pick where they thought his athleticism out-weighed their needs. Did Denver fill the holes left by the mass exodus from mile high? Let’s take a closer look at these new Broncos.

Nik Bonitto, taken first overall, is currently listed third on the Denver depth chart behind Randy Gregory (on the PUP list) and Malik Reed. Why take a player with such a high pick if not to start him? He certainly won’t start ahead of Gregory as the Broncos spent $70 million to sign him this offseason. Only former Bronco Von Miller and cornerback JC Jackson switched teams for bigger deals. This says that Gregory is a definite starter thus why draft Bonitto to have him sit? TE Greg Dulcich was chosen to replace Noah Fant. Those are some big shoes to fill but currently Dolcich is listed second on the depth chart. Like the two players before him, cornerback Damarii Mathis is riding pine in the third spot on the current depth chart. The starter in his listed position is Pat Surtain II who is one of the best corners in the league. Again, this pick is confusing to us. Uwazurike, their next pick, is sitting third on the depth chart as is safety Delarrin Turner-Yell. At least Montrell Washington, WR out of Samford is listed as second string. With QB Russell Wilson, you know Denver will use a lot of receivers. Center Luke Wattenberg is a back-up to Lloyd Cushenberry III whom Russell Wilson has been training with consistently since arriving in Denver. Matt Henningsen is the third string nose tackle and Denver’s last pick, Faion Hicks, is a fourth string cornerback. So did Denver really have a good draft? It seems that the two picks that have the best chance of seeing playing time are both on the offense, TE Greg Dulcich and WR Montrell Washington. JaguarsTalk believes that Denver appeased their new quarterback at the expense of their defensive needs. They’ve certainly drafted deep, sometimes very deep, depth, but could have instead taken players capable of an immediate impact on defense. It would seem that Denver believes they can outscore opponents in shootouts ala the Los Angeles Chargers. Such a philosophy may bode well for Jacksonville’s offense.

Going with this theory, it would seem that Jacksonville has a better chance at winning this game than most would have originally thought. With the high of a four game winning streak, the Jaguars now believe they can beat the Broncos. They have a young, fast defense to trip up Denver’s high powered offense, and barring injuries the Jaguars offense will be efficient and steady. As long as the defense can keep Denver from running away with it, the Jaguars will have a shot at a dubya. So will Jacksonville fly home from England with a victory. No… No they will not. Denver will win the overseas shootout 24-21, sending the Jaguars home 5-3 and ending their four game winning streak.

Let us know your thoughts on this upcoming Broncos/Jags game in the comment section below.