The Lead
Our own preseason predictions are still a little ways away from sharing our team MVP guesses for the upcoming season, but NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus has picked out his best guess for each team in the AFC.
His choice for Denver, Bradley Chubb, is certainly intriguing.
"With the great Von Miller likely to again command double teams on a regular basis, the stage is set for a healthy and rested Chubb to go off on overwhelmed offensive linemen who will have wished they chose a different line of work."
In their most recent, and only, season playing together, the two combined for 26.5 sacks. That was the Broncos' best two-person sack total since Miller and Elvis Dumervil combined for 29.5 sacks in 2012.
Chubb's 12 sacks in 2018 set a franchise rookie record, eclipsing the 11.5-sack mark Miller set in 2011. In 2019, he recorded one sack in four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Below the Fold
Perhaps you will be surprised by Cynthia Frelund's assessment on NFL.com that Jerry Jeudy will have the fifth-most productive receiving season among rookies this year. I was too. "Projecting a rookie wide receiver who will be working with a second-year pro at quarterback (Drew Lock) on a team that has invested heavily at the running back position presents some challenges," Frelund wrote. Still, she recognizes that his skills won't be lacking: "Computer vision route-running tracking shows his route-running and precision to be high."
As the NFL relaxes its policies on gambling, the Broncos have recently announced new partnerships with FanDuel and Betfred. The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala and Daniel Kaplan broke down the news and discussed the shift in policy with several key business experts. "… I would expect engagement and interest to be at a very high level," said Brady Kellogg, the Broncos' senior vice president of corporate partnerships. "Thankfully having a digital product, which (Betfred) will have in addition to a physical sportsbook, really gives fans great flexibility to engage regardless of whether they're in the stadium."
