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Home , Dalton Risner, Drew Lock, Jamar Taylor, Khalil Mack, Kyle Juszczyk

embraces big expectations in Broncos defense By Kyle Frederickson Denver Post April 5, 2019

Class is back in session for the Broncos.

Don’t be late.

New coach Vic Fangio promised a culture change, and with the team’s voluntary offseason program just days old at UCHealth Training Center, the first tangible differences are playing out behind closed doors. Fangio called his philosophy “death by inches,” an analogy for avoiding small mistakes that snowball into massive disasters. Lesson No. 1: Arriving on time means arriving early.

Edge rusher Bradley Chubb is all in.

“Our first team meeting started at 8, but guys were in there at 7:55 in their seats,” Chubb said on Thursday. “I remember a couple times last year guys would be rolling in at 7:59. Just culture change like that. Everybody wants to be better than we were at 5-11 or 6-10.”

A four-minute difference.

That might seem minuscule when working a 9-to-5 job, but every second counts in the pursuit of a . Fullback Andy Janovich told reporters: “It’s just extra time to sharpen every tool you have in the classroom. You spend more time there than you do on the field and in practice and everything. It’s more of a mental game.”

For Chubb — who tallied 60 tackles, 21 hits and 12 sacks as a rookie last year — the challenge of improving goes well beyond meeting attendance. The 22-year-old outside called himself an “open book” for embracing and learning new ways to be utilized on defense. Something Fangio promised next season.

Chubb’s initial homework is studying the Bears defense and what made it the NFL’s best last season.

“That’s pretty much all we’re watching right now,” Chubb said. “I’ve got it on the iPad and all that. Just watching everything the Bears did last year. How they used Khalil (Mack) and how they used Leonard Floyd. I feel like it’s going to be special. … Sometimes they would have Khalil and Leonard on the same side. Sometimes they had Khalil at a three-technique with Leonard on the other side. Just all of the things that you can do.”

Chubb admitted properly structuring his hours outside football proved difficult at times last season. He also had diet “cheat days” with trips to the Wendy’s drive-thru. But no more. Playing elite NFL football requires elite dedication in all facets of life. “I just had to realize how to manage my time,” he said. ” … When I felt like I did that, it helped me a lot.”

Don’t overcomplicate what is at stake in Chubb’s NFL development. He’ll be seated in class each day well before it starts.

“I feel like if I have that big jump in Year 2,” Chubb said, “then we’ll win more games.”

An upbeat Janovich steals show from Broncos week one press conferences By Mike Klis 9NEWS April 5, 2019

Andy Janovich, the normally stoic Broncos fullback, showed up for his fourth season bigger in the arms, fuller in the beard and lighter in his disposition. Is this the time to get the body back in shape?

“We’ve had, what, three months off now?" Janovich said in a post workout press conference Thursday at Broncos’ UCHealth Training Center. “A few guys, including me, got a little fat. You go home, eat too much, party a little too hard, but yeah, everybody is. We want to be lean and mean fighting machines."

Janovich gushed superlatives on his returning special teams coordinator Tom McMahon (“I think he’s the best in the league”) and running backs coach Curtis Modkins (“I think he’s great at teaching. I think that’s a big thing that he did so well last year”), before he was asked about new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

“I think he’s a great guy. Just like every coach, I’m going to say he’s a great guy," Janovich said.

Is that really you, Andy? Should have known when he walked out to his press gathering with Patrick Smyth, the Broncos’ top public relations boss. Smyth ordinarily only accompanies the , quarterback, , head coach types.

Janovich has good reason to be in a good mood. The Broncos are returning to a fullback-favorable, zone running, play-action pass system the team employed when Janovich became their sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft.

The Broncos head coach then was , who at one time was a head coach in Houston with Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator. Kyle Shanahan is the 49ers’ head coach who in two previous years had Scangarello as his coach.

“I was excited," Janovich said about Scangarello bringing the 49ers offense to Denver. “They typically use the fullbacks a lot more. The 49ers last year used their fullback more than anybody. Can’t be anything but excited.”

49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who played his first four seasons with Broncos quarterback in Baltimore, had 33 and 30 receptions the past two seasons with Shanahan. Janovich, who is more of a linebacker-rattling lead blocker-type, had a career-best eight catches for 112 yards and a last year.

“I think I’m a better blocker at the end of the day," Janovich said when asked to compare himself to Juszczyk. “But I think he’s a great route runner and all of that stuff. We’ll see.”

With some NFL teams, the fullback is passe’. With the Broncos, their fullback is starting to come out of his shell. Broncos notes: Players arriving early for meetings – which apparently is new By Mike Klis 9NEWS April 5, 2019

Perhaps there is a Fear the Fangio Factor.

It’s early. Way early. But so far one of the biggest differences in the 2019 Broncos is a collective haste to begin meetings.

In separate press conferences Thursday, first second-year outside linebacker Bradley Chubb spoke to it, and then fourth-year fullback Andy Janovich.

“I feel like the culture is changing," Chubb said. “First team meeting, we started at 8 a.m. But guys were there at 7:55 in their seats. I remember a couple of times last year that guys would be rolling in at 7:59. Just a culture change like that. Everybody wants to be better than we were, better than 5-11 and 6-10.”

And that was before new head coach Vic Fangio spoke to the importance of meetings. Several minutes later, without knowing Chubb’s answer, Janovich was asked if the new coaching staff had changed the culture.

“Yeah, absolutely," he said. “Last year we had guys coming in two seconds before, and they’re not even seated by the time of the meeting, but they’re there. Now, it’s five minutes early and now we start five minutes early. It’s just extra time to sharpen every tool you have in the classroom."

Risner, Keke visit Broncos

The Broncos hosted Wiggins and Kansas State offensive lineman and Texas A&M defensive lineman Kingsley Keke on Thursday.

The players arrived Wednesday night and had a full day’s visit with the Broncos coaches and general manager John Elway on Thursday.

Risner was a right tackle at Kansas State, but the Broncos are set there with newly signed free agent Ja’Wuan James, so they would be interested in the Wiggins native at a guard spot.

Risner is mostly considered a second-round pick, with Keke projected for the mid-rounds.

The Broncos have three picks in each of the first four rounds – No. 10, 41, 71 and 125 overall in the NFL Draft that will begin April 25 – or three weeks from the Risner-Keke visits on Thursday.

Wilson, Mecklenburg to announce draft picks

The Broncos continue to work on mending their relationship with former middle linebacker Al Wilson. He will announce the team’s second-round draft pick on Friday, April 26 while another former great, defensive end/linebacker Karl Mecklenburg will announce the team’s third-round selection.

Wilson had more berths (5) than any Broncos player not in the team’s Ring of Fame. Wilson filed a malpractice suit against a Broncos neurosurgeon because of how the doctor handled what turned out to be a career-ending neck injury. Wilson lost the case as a Denver court jury found the doctor was not negligent.

Broncos work out quarterbacks Daniel Jones, Clayton Thorson, set to meet By Mike Klis 9NEWS April 5, 2019

It might be the first round. It might be the fifth.

Regardless of round, evidence continues to compile that the Broncos are taking a quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft that is now three weeks away.

A league source told 9News that John Elway led a Broncos contingent that flew to North Carolina this week to work out Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. 9News had also reported the Broncos worked out Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson in the Chicagoland area on Wednesday

Meanwhile, 9News has also learned the Broncos will bring in highly touted Missouri quarterback Drew Lock for a top 30 pre-draft visit starting Sunday night and continuing into Monday.

Joe Flacco is the Broncos’ starting quarterback in 2019. Elway, Denver’s general manager, acquired Flacco from Baltimore last month in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.

Kevin Hogan, a fourth-year pro, is the Broncos’ backup quarterback and former Colorado State standout Garrett Grayson, who is entering his fifth professional season, is the No. 3.

But where is the young quarterback to bring along just in case he develops into the next ? Every team has a young one, even if the next Tom Brady is a once every half-century find.

The Broncos don’t have a young gun since releasing and Chad Kelly last year. If the Broncos draft a quarterback like Thorson in the middle rounds, then Flacco won’t have to look over his shoulder this season.

If they draft a quarterback with their No. 10 overall pick like Lock or Jones, then Flacco as the starter is on borrowed time.

That’s just how it works in the NFL.

Jones is considered an accurate quarterback with a good head and feel for the game, but he does not have a very strong arm. He averaged 17 touchdown passes against 10 and 2,733 yards in his three seasons as a starter for Duke.

OK. Hardly spectacular.

Jones could fall to the Broncos’ No. 41 pick in the second round, but that’s probably his floor. He could also go in the first round, along with Lock, and Dwayne Haskins.

Lock is expected to go in the first half of the first round. The Broncos also held formal combine interviews with Auburn’s and West Virginia’s Will Grier. Those two are expected to go between the second and fifth rounds.

The Broncos have other needs besides quarterback. But whether it’s their franchise guy in the first round or a backup to bring along in the second, third, fourth or fifth rounds, all signs point to Elway taking a quarterback in the upcoming draft.

Broncos players admit they weren’t “on the same page” last year By Nicki Jhabvala The Athletic April 5, 2019

The inches started to add up before the Broncos took the field for their season opener against Seattle. It started in the offseason, continued into minicamp and OTAs, spilled over into training camp and was fully ingrained by the start of the regular season.

When Week 1 arrived, the problems were noticeable, in spite of a win: three passes intercepted, multiple drops, missed tackles, missed opportunities.

The Broncos, in their second year under head coach Vance Joseph, failed to correct so many of the mistakes that plagued their first season together. After losses, players admitted to “shooting themselves in the foot” or “beating themselves,” shaking their heads in bafflement over the missed assignments, poor communication and subpar play.

They knew they had problems, and seemingly couldn’t correct them. And so for both seasons they finished with a losing record, a dubious feat the franchise hadn’t achieved since Richard Nixon was president.

“At one point last year, everybody wasn’t on the same page,” former Bronco and newly signed Raiders linebacker Brandon Marshall said during a recent interview on Orange and Blue 760. “There was a lot of gray area on how we were doing things. Once everybody gets on the same page, I think they’ll flourish. They still have a really good roster, a really good history.”

When general manager John Elway set out on his fourth coaching search since joining the Broncos, he was sold on Vic Fangio’s mantra of “death by inches,” a philosophy that emphasizes attention to details.

The basic premise: Minor mistakes add up.

“If you’re running a meeting, whether it be a team meeting, offense or defense meeting, a position coach meeting and a player walks in, say 30 seconds late, 45 seconds late — that act in it of itself really has no impact on whether you’re going to win or lose that week,” Fangio explained. “But if you let it slide, the next day there’s two or three guys late or it went from 30 seconds to two minutes. It causes an avalanche of problems.

“That’s ‘death by inches.’”

The Broncos died by inches the last two years, and as players and coaches alike look ahead to 2019, they can’t help but reflect on what went wrong and on how they got to this point.

“You’d see it on the field,” fullback Andy Janovich said. “We’d shoot ourselves in the foot and guys just aren’t tuned in all the time. Come game day, that kills you.”

The buzzword so often used is “culture,” a vague descriptor that fails to fully encapsulate the routines in between games. The culture is good when a team wins and terrible when it loses.

The Broncos have sought to change its “culture” for three years now. Fangio’s ways, however, have so far provided actual shifts in their ways.

Tuesday, in his first address to players before the start of their offseason workout program, Fangio stressed technique and fundamentals. He’s not one for bombastic speeches, so he kept it simple.

“I was here for the (introductory) press conference, and same guy that everybody saw in the press conference was the same guy that we saw this morning,” Von Miller said. “That’s a compliment. You don’t want this guy to be in the press conference, then he gets in front of the team and is this guy, then when you’re one-on-one with him he’s this guy. It’s not the case with Coach Vic, and I knew that from all the players that he’s coached that I’m familiar with. I knew he was that type of guy, and he was definitely that today.”

Although the Broncos are just getting started in preparing for 2019 and have yet to be on the field with coaches, players say changes are already noticeable.

“A lot of guys are holding guys accountable, whether it be in the weight room or in the meetings,” Bradley Chubb said. “If I’m not writing something down, Jeff (Holland) is checking me like, ‘Hey, make sure you write that down.’ Stuff like that. The first team meeting — it started at 8 but guys were in there at 7:55 in their seats. I remember a couple times last year, guys would be rolling in at 7:59. Just a culture change like that. Everybody wants to be better than when we were at 5-11 and 6-10.”

The earlier arrivals afford them five extra minutes in the classroom, where the bulk of their game prep is spent.

After four seasons, two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl victory and a slew of records set with , the Broncos have failed to return to the playoffs since reaching the peak of the league. They’ve used four different starting quarterbacks, none of whom are still on the team; let their once- top-ranked defense become an average unit and produced an 11-21 record — all while their division has become even tougher.

Despite the Broncos’ sharp fall from grace, Elway said he still believes they can “compete” in the division. But ask around, and it becomes clear that competition starts in the Broncos’ building as they look to get on the same page once more.

“It’s the details that we need to fix,” Janovich said. “Simple as that.”

AP source: Denver lures AAF's Bausby after league's demise By Arnie Stapleton April 5, 2019

A person with knowledge of the deal says the have agreed to terms with De'Vante Bausby, one of the stars of the failed Alliance of league that suspended operations this week.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the team has not officially announced the signing, which is expected Friday.

Bausby had four interceptions for the San Antonio Commanders in the new spring league that lasted just eight weeks.

Bausby, who has started 10 games in the NFL and has spent time with the Chiefs, Bears and Eagles, is set to sign with the Broncos on Friday.

That will make him the third free agent cornerback to join the team this offseason.

After letting three of their own free agents — , Tramaine Brock and Jamar Taylor — hit the open market, the Broncos signed and in free agency to rebuild their secondary around star cornerback Chris Harris Jr, who is skipping the Broncos' offseason program that began Tuesday as he angles for a new contract.

After a standout career at Pittsburg State, Bausby signed with the Chiefs as a college free agent in 2015.

He played in four games for the Bears in 2016. After serving on Philadelphia's practice squad during the Eagles' Super Bowl-winning season in 2017, he played in six games for the Eagles last season, making one start and collecting 14 tackles.

Like Mack? Bradley Chubb studies Bears' pass rusher for hints on how he fits in HC Fangio's system By Aric DiLalla DenverBroncos.com April 5, 2019

Just over a year ago, Bradley Chubb sat at a podium at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine and told reporters he aimed to play like a combination of Von Miller and Khalil Mack.

Chubb got an up-close look at Miller’s game once the Broncos selected the NC State pass rusher with the fifth-overall pick in last year’s draft.

And now it’s time to add an element of Mack.

As the Broncos begin their offseason program under new Head Coach Vic Fangio, Chubb said he’s focused on studying how Fangio used Mack last season while Fangio was Chicago’s defensive coordinator.

“That’s pretty much all we’re watching right now,” said Chubb on Thursday when asked if he’s watched film of Mack. “Got it on the iPad and all that. Just watching everything the Bears did last year, how they used Khalil, how they used Leonard Floyd, and I feel like it’s going to be special.”

Chubb is excited about playing in Fangio’s defense, in part, because of all the options it should give himself and Miller.

“Sometimes they would have Khalil and Leonard on the same side, sometimes they would have Khalil in a three-technique with Leonard on the other side,” Chubb said.

Fangio said in late March that moving Chubb to the same side as Miller was certainly an option for certain packages.

“Sure, that is a possibility,” Fangio said. “Chubb is another guy where my knowledge and background on him is more from last year’s draft than the 2018 season. He was a guy that we were interested in last year in the draft. I did a lot of work on him. I’m excited about coaching him.

“I think he obviously has the ability to play on the edge of our defense, but I will also be interested to see how much we can move him around and if it fits what we want to do in that regard. I think he can.”

Fangio said it’s been difficult to avoid imagining how he can use a pair of players that each recorded at least 12 sacks in 2018. He’ll wait to make any final decisions on his scheme, though, until he can see his new team on the field.

“Yeah, I do get excited about it,” Fangio said. “But until we see them on the field and how 11 all can fit together, anything we might want to draw up, we’ve probably already drawn up in the past. I’m just excited to see them play, and the X’s and O’s will take care of themselves.”

Chubb didn’t set any personal goals on Thursday, but if he can match Mack’s 12.5 sacks, six forced and one pick-six from 2018, the Broncos should be in position to improve.

“[I’ve] just been putting in the work on the field [and] off the field, when it comes to the mental side of it,” Chubb said. “Just trying to do everything to better myself so I can help better this team.

“I feel like if I have that big jump in Year 2, then we’re going to win more games.”

Al Wilson, Karl Mecklenburg to announce Broncos' picks at 2019 NFL Draft By Aric DiLalla DenverBroncos.com April 5, 2019

As the next generation of NFL stars gets its start at the 2019 NFL Draft, the league will honor 64 of its best former and active players.

Former Broncos linebacker Al Wilson, who played his collegiate football at the University of Tennessee, will be one of those former stars.

Wilson is scheduled to announce the Broncos’ second-round pick when Denver makes the 41st-overall selection. The Broncos’ first-round pick in 1999 will represent the team during the round, which will feature a former first-rounder for each team announcing their respective club’s pick.

Wilson played eight seasons at linebacker for the Broncos and recorded five Pro Bowl appearances and one first-team All-Pro selection. The 31st-overall selection in 1999 missed just three games in his NFL career.

Wilson won’t be the only former Broncos draft pick in attendance. Round 3 picks will be announced by later-round draft picks, and Karl Mecklenburg is scheduled to announce the team’s third-round pick.

Mecklenburg, a Ring of Famer, has announced a Broncos draft pick in the past. With the help of a magician at Casa Bonita, Mecklenburg shared the Broncos’ 2018 fifth-round selection of Troy Fumagalli.

Wilson and Mecklenburg are also expected to be on-site to have discussions with this year’s prospects. They are also scheduled to participate in Nashville-area community service projects.

The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m. MT.

Inch by inch, Vic Fangio is already changing the Broncos’ culture By Zac Stevens BSN Denver April 5, 2019

Last year in the Broncos’ headquarters, being on time simply meant just being on time.

As long as players were able to sliiiiiide through the doors before a meeting commenced, then all was good.

“Last year, we had guys coming in two seconds before [meetings], and they aren’t even seated when the time the meeting is,” fullback Andy Janovich said on Thursday, echoing nearly the same sentiment of Bradley Chubb just minutes before. “But [they] were there.”

The saying “If you’re on time, you’re late” wasn’t uttered under the old regime.

That’s all changing under Vic Fangio.

“Vic, he’s a no-nonsense guy,” Janovich, a fellow no-nonsense guy himself, said on Thursday.

Instead of showing up at 7:59 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. meeting, the team is now showing up at 7:55 a.m.

“But now it’s five minutes early, now we start five minutes early, so it’s just extra time to sharpen every tool you have,” Janovich explained. “The classroom, you spend more time there then you do on the field in practice, so it’s more of a mental game a lot of times. Just to have extra time is big.”

But it’s not actually a big deal, right?

Wrong, Vic Fangio would say.

In fact, this is precisely Fangio’s motto, death by inches.

“The little things, they add up, and he doesn’t want them to turn into big things,” Ed Donatell, Denver’s new defensive coordinator, said, explaining what Fangio’s death-by-inches philosophy means.

“If he wants you touching the line in the drill, he wants that. He wants you in alignment in a certain place, he wants your eyes to be where they’re supposed to be, and he wants people to be responsible to the team.”

Last year, all of the little mistakes caught up to the Broncos.

“We shot ourselves in the foot. Guys just weren’t tuned in all the time and come game day that kills you,” said Janovich. “It’s the details that we need to fix. It’s as simple as that.”

Fangio’s one of the best defensive minds in the game, if not the best. During the first week of the team’s offseason workout program, it’s becoming clear that attention to detail has been one of his secret ingredients over the past three decades.

Just three days into the 2019 Broncos season, players already feel a new, and improved, culture.

“I definitely feel like definitely a lot of guys are a lot closer this year. I feel like the culture’s changing,” Chubb said. “A lot of guys are holding each other accountable, whether that be in the weight room or in meetings. If I’m not writing something down, Jeff [Holland] is checking me just like, ‘Make sure you write that down.’ Just stuff like that.”

The past two seasons, details appeared to be a suggestion.

But after 11 combined wins the last two seasons, Fangio’s “death by inches” approach has swept through the UCHealth Training Center.

“I think [Fangio’s] going to bring back the old school, we’re going to work hard—not saying we didn’t work hard last year, but people are excited with all of the new changes,” Janovich stated. “It’s going to be good.”

Bradley Chubb: Vic Fangio’s work with Khalil Mack “pretty much all we’re watching” By Josh Alper Pro Football Talk April 5, 2019

The Broncos are expecting head coach Vic Fangio to run an old-school training camp this summer, but that’s not the only thing that players are getting prepared for as Fangio’s first season in Denver unfolds.

They’re also trying to get a handle on how Fangio will deploy them and linebacker Bradley Chubb said on Thursday that part of that process involves checking out tape of Fangio’s defense in Chicago. Chubb said that he is taking particular note of how Khalil Mack was used in 2018.

Chubb said, via Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com, that Mack tape is “pretty much all we’re watching right now” and that he’s interested to see how Fangio decides to use him.

“When you see what he did with guys in the past, how he moved around guys like Khalil Mack, it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to,” Chubb said. “I feel like I am a versatile player so I’m excited to see what all things we do to help out this team.”

Fangio gave some hints about his plans for Chubb at last month’s league meetings and said that he expects the 2018 first-round pick to make a “big jump” in their first year working together.

Broncos worked out Daniel Jones this week By Josh Alper Pro Football Talk April 5, 2019

The Broncos’ search for a quarterback for the future led them to Durham, North Carolina this week.

Mike Klis of KUSA reports that General Manager John Elway and others from the team made the trip to the home of Duke University. The reason for the trip was the chance to put former Duke quarterback Daniel Jones through his paces on the field.

Jones is generally included in a group of possible first-round quarterbacks along with Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock. The Broncos have met or are set to meet with everyone in that group with Lock making the trip to Denver this weekend.

The Broncos have the No. 10 overall pick and using it on a quarterback would signal their long-term plans at the position. Anything else would likely set Joe Flacco up for a second year as the starter in Denver.

De’Vante Bausby signs with Broncos By Charean Williams Pro Football Talk April 5, 2019

Another Alliance of American Football player has signed with an NFL team.

The Broncos reached agreement with cornerback De’Vante Bausby, Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com reports.

Bausby, 26, played for the San Antonio Commanders.

He has spent time with the Bears, Chiefs and Eagles, originally signing with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent out of Pittsburg State in 2015.

He played four games with the Bears in 2016 and six with the Eagles in 2018. He made one start last season.

Bausby has 26 career tackles.