Ask Aric: What the Broncos should expect from KJ Hamler

Miles

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Mar 18, 2019
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Has Bradley Chubb been practicing at full speed or is he being brought back in slowly? - David P.


David, Fangio has mentioned the team will monitor Chubb during training camp, but we're not quite sure what that will look like yet. On Friday, he rotated in normally and was out there for 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 action with the starting defense. As camp progresses, it will be interesting to see if he takes fewer snaps, is held out for more rest days or if he practices in a "normal" fashion. At least through one day, I didn't notice any limitations. Even with a brace on, he looked like his old self in individual drills. I'm excited to see what he looks like when the pads go on.


Will a free-agent rookie make the team this year? - Vince V.


Vince, we received several questions about rookie free agents, and that makes sense given Denver's historic aptitude for finding quality undrafted free agents. Plain and simple, it's going to be harder to identify those players this year because of fewer practices and the lack of preseason games. In fact, a few undrafted rookies were waived without ever hitting the field when the NFL announced teams would have to cut their roster to 80 players to work out as one unit. I'd keep your eye on LeVante Bellamy, who could push Royce Freeman for the third running back spot. Personally, I think Freeman has tremendous value as a third running back and has veteran experience that would prove helpful if Melvin Gordon III or Phillip Lindsay ever had to miss a game. That's why I think the more likely player to make the roster may be safety Douglas Coleman III. Behind Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson, Trey Marshall is really the only proven reserve at the position. If Coleman can push past Alijah Holder — a converted cornerback — and P.J. Locke, he'll be able to earn a spot. He had a nice pass breakup in the end zone in Friday's practice, and he intercepted eight passes during his final season in college. Don't be surprised if you hear about him being around the ball a lot.


How many regular-season games will it take to get our team ready to really put out a decent game? - Charlie M.


Charlie, I'm optimistic that the Broncos' offense will be serviceable by Week 1 because of the (admittedly limited) experience of Drew Lock, Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant, Gordon and Lindsay. I think that will be enough, when paired with Denver's likely strong defense, to be right in the mix in the first couple weeks of the season. If you're looking for a game when the team's offense breaks out and reaches above the 24-point barrier that has been somewhat elusive in recent years, I'd look to Week 3 against Tampa Bay. I think two weeks into the season, Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur should have a good feel for what his offense does really well, and Lock and Co. will have enough experience running the plays. We could see a shootout that week against Tom Brady and the Bucs.


Who do you believe will be the MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year of this team? — Ben B.


Ben, we polled members of the Denver media earlier this summer about their picks for these awards and several others. You can find those results here, but I'll save you a click for my picks. I think Lock will be the MVP, Sutton the Offensive Player of the Year and Chubb the Defensive Player of the Year. I really struggled with OPOY, because I think Fant will be heavily involved in that conversation. The volume of Sutton's targets, though, put him over the top for me.


Has it been hard for the rooks trying to adjust to Denver's altitude? - Nathan C.


Nathan, I think everyone struggles to adjust to Denver's altitude. It's why the Broncos have one of the best home-field advantages in the entire league. During a recent interview with DenverBroncos.com's Phil Milani, new right tackle Demar Dotson brought up the altitude and the impact it had on him in practice. The rookies, though, seem to be fine at this point. They've been working out and conditioning for several weeks. Now, they can just focus on football.
 
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