Denver Broncos and Vic Fangio
There were a lot of happy folks across the football world when Vic Fangio finally earned a head coaching opportunity in 2019 with the Denver Broncos. Fangio has been an NFL coach since 1986 when he got his start coaching the linebackers for the New Orleans Saints. His coaching resume includes serving as defensive coordinator for five NFL teams as well as Stanford in 2010. After spending four years running the defense for the Chicago Bears, Fangio finally got the call to lead the charge, replacing Vance Joseph in Denver.
The Broncos went 7-9 in Fangio’s first season at the helm, but many are pegging Denver as a playoff contender in 2020, especially with the extra wild card position now up for grabs. That conversation begins with Denver’s second-year quarterback Drew Lock.
Fangio and the 2019 draft class
Denver’s 2019 Draft already looks like a solid foundation for the future of the team. That discussion starts with Lock, who replaced Joe Flacco late in the season and went 4-1 in his five starts, throwing for 1,020 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions. The early returns so far are promising on Lock, and John Elway may have finally hit on a quarterback selection.
But it’s not just Lock that is going to steer Denver back in the right direction from 2019. Their first-round pick is flashing some high potential. That’s tight end Noah Fant, who caught 40 passes and scored three touchdowns as a rookie. Fant is going to be a strong weapon in the middle of the field and Denver has done a very nice job surrounding Lock with weapons so that defenses will have almost no chance of focusing on Fant and eliminating from the equation.
Then you have the first player the Broncos took in the second round of the draft, offensive guard Dalton Risner, who had a fantastic season as a rookie, rolling over his momentum from his time at Kansas State. Risner, along with 2020 Draft pick Lloyd Cushenberry, will be the interior foundation that Lock will need to succeed.
Overall, the 2019 Draft class has left promising indications of what Fangio and his coaching staff can do when it comes to developing talent.
Miami Dolphins and Brian Flores
Without question, one of the best-looking hires from 2019 so far is Brian Flores with the Miami Dolphins. Flores came over from the New England Patriots after winning Super Bowl LIII and was more or less calling the shots on defense. He inherited a Dolphins team that, quite frankly, looked really bad on paper. We all know the story. Miami was supposed to “tank for Tua”. The Dolphins weren’t supposed to win more than two games. They were supposed to land the No. 1 pick in the draft. Flores wasn’t that type of coach.
Miami won five games in 2019, including a Week 17 game at New England that cost the Patriots a first-round bye in the playoffs and may have single-handedly drastically altered the road to the Super Bowl. Even with five wins and getting the fifth pick in the draft, the Dolphins still came away with Tua Tagovailoa. Without a doubt, Flores showed he is the man for the job in South Beach but what about his 2019 Draft class?
Flores and the 2019 draft class
The 2019 draft class for the Dolphins has already found a couple of starters, including their top pick, defensive lineman Christian Wilkins. He had a pair of sacks as a rookie but should see more opportunities to create havoc with the additions Miami made to their defense for 2020, including former Patriot Kyle Van Noy. Going forward, Wilkins is going to be part of the foundation of the Dolphins defense heading into 2020.
They also found one of their starting guards in that draft in Michael Deiter. He quickly established himself as the starting right guard and should have a chance to stay there even with the multiple offensive linemen Miami took in the 2020 Draft, led by likely left tackle Austin Jackson.
Other than that, the Dolphins found reserve players the rest of the draft. Those being LB Andrew Van Ginkel, OT Isaiah Prince, H-back Chandler Cox, and RB Myles Gaskin, who may already be on the outside looking in after the team signed Jordan Howard, traded for Matt Breida and drafted Malcolm Perry in the seventh round. But that’s not a bad thing at all for a team that was in total rebuild mode, which included trading Minkah Fitzpatrick to Pittsburgh, and Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to Houston.
The 2020 NFL Draft class will ultimately write the story of Flores and his team, but the returns from 2019 are at least promising.
New York Jets and Adam Gase
The Dolphins connection shows up here as well, as Adam Gase found a second life in the NFL after his tumultuous end as head coach in Miami. After being spurned by Matt Rhule, the Jets essentially settled on Gase, a move that certainly had a few people scratching their heads. That itch grew larger after the Jets started the season 1-7.
Gase wound up with the last laugh in 2019 as the Jets went 6-2 in the second half of the season to finish 7-9. In almost Jets fashion, however, they lost to the 0-11 Bengals during that stretch. Nonetheless, their strong finish gave Gase a second year with the Jets, but how did Gase do developing their 2019 Draft class?
Gase and the 2019 draft class
While Gase got contributions from a handful of the 2019 picks, including 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks from third overall pick Quinnen Williams, the Jets did earn some backlash after third-round pick Jachai Polite failed to make the roster. Polite was once seen as a top edge rusher in the 2019 class but issues kept popping up and Polite fell to the third. The Jets took a chance but ultimately couldn’t find a spot for him on the roster. Polite would up spending 2019 on the practice squads of the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.
Despite that, the Jets have a few starters and producers from that class, including Williams, OT Chuma Edoga, H-back Trevon Wesco, and ILB Blake Cashman. Edoga will likely have to battle for a spot after the Jets drafted two offensive linemen in 2020, including first-round pick Mekhi Becton, and signed free agent Greg Van Roten.
Williams is going to be the foundation of the Jets defense, especially if they do choose to move on from safety Jamal Adams, who has been the subject of numerous trade rumors since last year’s trade deadline.
The jury is still out on whether Gase is the right man for the Jets. 2020 is going to be very telling if he can keep the momentum going from the second half of the year and demonstrate that Sam Darnold can truly be a franchise quarterback. However, despite the black eye of the Polite selection and the coaching staff’s inability to get him to the roster, the development of the 2019 class is a good omen for Gase and the Jets going forward.