ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Many players on the Broncos roster were doing the same thing you might have been doing Sunday night: watching the Colorado Avalanche hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in 21 years.

Throughout the offseason program, numerous players on the team’s roster, from safety Justin Simmons to kicker Brandon McManus, commented on the energy their fellow professional athletes down the road had injected into the city. Watching that journey, often from seats near the glass, only intensified the hunger for a group of players who are desperate to shake free from a losing malaise and recapture a devoted fan base’s attention and passion.

“Just to hear how electric it is in (Ball Arena, the Avalanche’s home venue), I can’t wait to hear that and see that sea of orange when we are back in our home stadium and playing in big-time games,” Simmons said earlier this month. “I can’t wait.”

LETS GO AVS!!!!!!! CHAMPS BABY!!!!

— Justin Simmons (@jsimms1119) June 27, 2022

Though the wait for real football continues, it is steadily shrinking. The Broncos report to training camp in just less than a month, when they will begin a new era of high expectations under first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett and new franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. Before the grind of camp for the Broncos begins — and before any of you might be understandably inclined to let the football part of your brain rest for the summer — we wanted to put together a mega mailbag to answer questions you might have about the upcoming season.

Part I is below and Part II will publish Thursday. Let’s dig in.

What is the most significant question the team needs to resolve before the season begins? — Theodore S.

This is easy: How quickly can the offense form a cohesiveness around the play-calling style of Hackett’s and Wilson’s skill set?

The Broncos’ schedule over the final six weeks of the season isn’t exactly inviting. This team needs to create a cushion before wading into the end-of-the-year gauntlet that includes games against the Chiefs (twice), Chargers, Ravens and Rams, and that hinges on the offense being ready to operate at a high level from Week 1. There will be an adjustment period. Hackett is a first-time head coach. Wilson is guiding a new team after a decade with the Seahawks. Perfection out of the gate isn’t a realistic expectation. But Denver’s ceiling in 2022 hinges on how quickly Hackett, Wilson and the rest of Denver’s offense can navigate the bumps in the road and create the kind of offensive success the team has longed for since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 season.

You’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but of the two position groups that could be moved for future draft capital, wide receiver and edge, what players do you believe could be traded from those groups? Big names for premium picks or role players/rotational guys to fill out the back end of the draft? — Kameron B. 

After George Paton traded the face of the franchise in Von Miller and acquired a nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback in Wilson — all in a span of under five months — I’m not putting anything past Denver’s second-year general manager. He has shown a willingness to be aggressive in the pursuit of creating a better roster, both in an immediate sense and with an eye toward the future, so it stands to reason that he’d be open to at least hearing offers centered on players who occupy the top of the depth chart at their respective positions.

But I don’t see a blockbuster deal coming in training camp that will land the Broncos a Day 2 pick or better. Paton is not going to welcome Wilson by sending away one of his presumed top targets, especially when Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick recently signed new contracts, and Jerry Jeudy is still on his affordable rookie contract. KJ Hamler has expressed confidence that he’ll be ready to play in September as he continues to recover from knee and hip surgery, but the Broncos aren’t in a position to sacrifice depth at the position in the name of acquiring future draft capital with the pecking order at receiver undecided. The most likely move here would be something similar to the Trinity Benson deal last September, when Paton sent the camp standout to the Lions for fifth- and seventh-round picks, knowing there wasn’t room for him on the 53-man roster.

At edge rusher, the Broncos are counting on Bradley Chubb and new acquisition Randy Gregory to be available and productive. The depth behind them is where it gets interesting. The team has raved about the progress of Baron Browning as the second-year player continues to adjust to the switch from inside linebacker. He’s a key part of the plan for 2022. So, too, is Nik Bonitto, the second-round pick out of Oklahoma. Where does that leave Malik Reed? Is the fourth-year player still viewed as a top rotation piece? Could the Broncos fetch a fifth-round pick for a player who has tallied a combined 13 sacks the past two seasons? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, particularly if young players such as Jonathon Cooper, Christopher Allen and Aaron Patrick show significant progress during camp.

Whose job is Quinn Meinerz taking? — Mike W.

One of the most intriguing subplots at training camp will be how the battles for interior spots on the offensive line unfold. Garett Bolles is cemented at left tackle, and the effusive praise Hackett offered for Dalton Risner during minicamp suggests the 2019 second-round pick will be the starter at left guard for the fourth straight season. Every spot to the right of Risner is up for grabs, though Lloyd Cushenberry appears to be in a strong position to retain his spot as the starting center as camp approaches.

So where does that leave Meinerz, who started the final nine games of his rookie season in 2021 at right guard after an injury to veteran Graham Glasgow? I believe Meinerz, a third-round pick in 2021, will be the starting right guard when the Broncos open their season in Seattle on Sept. 13. Glasgow said on June 6 that he is “85 percent or so, maybe a little under that,” as he continues to rehab from a major injury last November that included torn ligaments in his ankle and a fractured leg. Glasgow took limited team reps at guard during minicamp and he figures to pick up the intensity when the team gathers again in late July, but he’ll have ground to make up on Meinerz, who was a full participant in the offseason program. Meinerz is probably penciled into the starting spot as the Broncos head into camp, with Glasgow’s role to be largely determined by his own health and that of the rest of the offensive line.

So for a way-too-early look at next year’s offseason, if Bradley Chubb doesn’t play up to expectations, would an edge replacement for him be a priority with the little draft capital Denver has? Or would that be a free-agency target? — Tyler M. 

So we’ve all heard this is Chubb’s critical year to perform since he is in the final year of his rookie contract. I know some Broncos fans are down on him, but I still believe he can finally live up to his promise, and we know the contract will be a big motivator. If he does, what are the Broncos’ options for keeping him? Is he a regular free agent where he goes to the highest bidder? It would be a shame if the Broncos lose him right after he realized his potential. — Mike B.

If Chubb can begin this season as he did during his rookie campaign in 2018, the Broncos might come quickly with an extension offer in order to secure his spot in Denver long term. Then again, if Chubb gets off to a blazing start, he might wait to see how the market looks for top-end edge rushers come the offseason. Either way, the Broncos hold most of the cards in this situation. If there is no extension during the season and the Broncos want to buy more time, they can place the franchise tag on Chubb, which would pay him the average of the top five salaries at his position for one year. It’s the tool Denver used to keep Justin Simmons in the fold during the 2020 season before eventually signing him to a long-term extension last year.

All that is to say Chubb has a prime opportunity to get paid next season if he plays up to his potential in 2022. The Broncos should be rooting for that scenario because it would mean they possess a player capable of wreaking consistent havoc on opposing AFC West quarterbacks, and the Broncos need that element in order to compete for the division title.

But if Chubb isn’t that player — if he struggles once again to stay healthy — finding another premier pass rusher will become a top priority. The Broncos already have irons in that proverbial fire. It’s why they drafted Bonitto and moved the talented Browning to the outside. The hope is one or both of those players pop this season or at least show signs they can. Either way, in the event the Broncos decide after this season they need to move on from Chubb, Denver will explore both paths, the draft and free agency, in the pursuit of another impactful edge rusher.

I, like Mike B., am bullish on Chubb in 2022. He’s healthy and appears to be in a great space mentally after all the various obstacles that have dotted his path the past three seasons. He just has to put it all together.

Most of the national pundits considered the late-round picks by George Paton to be reaches. After seeing these guys on the field a little bit, what are your personal thoughts about what kind of players the Broncos selected? — Elaine M.

The interesting thing about the assessment of late-round picks is they are often evaluated, at least initially, by where those prospects rank in relation to their peers at the same position. Those rankings are typically compiled by taking an overall view of the player, which makes practical sense as it relates to creating those lists. But when front offices are making decisions on picks in the seventh, sixth or even fifth rounds, they are often looking for very specific traits they believe can help fill a gap on their team. Tyrie Cleveland is a perfect example. He was a seventh-round choice in 2020 and it was viewed as a stretch by some draft evaluators because his overall skill set as a receiver wasn’t viewed as superior to some at his position who were still available. But the Broncos saw a player whose length and general toughness had the chance to make him a mainstay on special teams. Fast-forward to Cleveland’s third season and he is still on Denver’s roster and has made a strong impression on first-year special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes, who believes the former Florida standout could be a key cog.

So that is the best way to view late-round picks. How do they fit a specific team need? What crack can they help fill?

To that end, there wasn’t a ton to take away from the offseason program. Montrell Washington, a fifth-round pick, clearly has quickness as a receiver, but he won’t know how potent and reliable he is as a returner until he sees game action. Luke Wattenberg, the fifth-round pick out of Washington, got work at center with the backup quarterbacks and appeared to have a good feel for the position, but what kind of strength will he display when pads come on? Can Delarrin-Turner Yell, the fifth-round safety who looks bigger in person than his listed measurements of 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, be a big hitter on special teams? Can seventh-round cornerback Faion Hicks crack the roster at a crowded position? We’ll know more by the end of August, but even then it will be far too early to know whether the Broncos reached at the back end of the 2022 draft. Check back in December.

Would/could the Broncos start doing anything to position themselves to be able to draft Arch Manning in three or four years? — Josh W.

And here I thought queries about the quarterbacking future in Denver would dissolve with the arrival of a certain Super Bowl-winning signal caller. I guess not.

The Broncos, of course, hope Wilson will be the team’s starting quarterback three and four … and seven and eight … years down the road. The blockbuster in March was about immediate improvement, yes, but it was also about having something sustainable to build around, a welcome departure from the duct-tape solutions the Broncos had thrown at the most important position in sports for the past half-decade.

“I don’t look at it as a window. Russ is young, 33, (and) he wants to play until he’s 40,” Paton said before the draft in April when asked if he felt compelled to select players who profiled as capable of helping Wilson right away. “We want a guy to be here long term and be the best player. We’re not going to take a player just because he’s ready Week 1. We want a player who’s going to be here four or five years. Russell will probably outlast them all.”

In short, if the Broncos are entering the draft in four years hoping Peyton Manning’s nephew, who has verbally committed to play college football at the University of Texas beginning in 2023, is their future at quarterback, then something with their current franchise quarterback went horribly wrong.

On the other hand, it’s also too early to assume Manning will be a top-five pick and not a mid-round quarterback whom a franchise plans to develop behind an established starter like, say, Russell Wilson. Imagine that. A 36-year-old Wilson, the rookie fourth-rounder Manning and his Uncle Peyton, fresh off being hired as a top Broncos executive, all breaking down film together ahead of the 2026 season. Think the internet might have fun with that one?

Name the quarterback who scored the most offensive points in his first NFL start? — Jeff S.

A little trivia?! I love it. So the guess I made before looking this up was Dan Marino given how prolific he was early in his career. A visit to Pro Football Reference reveals Marino, in his starting debut on Oct. 9, 1983, led Miami to 35 points during a three-point loss to the Bills, throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns along the way. That was a precursor, of course, to Marino’s record-setting 1984 season, when his 48 touchdown passes resoundingly set a single-season mark that stood for more than two decades until Peyton Manning threw 49 touchdown passes for the Colts in 2004. Marino was truly ahead of his time and my guess wasn’t toooo far off.

Still, Dan the Man didn’t even beat out current Broncos backup Brett Rypien, who led Denver to a 37-28 win over the Jets in 2020 in his first (and still only) NFL start. At first glance, it looks like both were well behind Sam Darnold, who helped lead the Jets to a 48-17 demolition of the Lions on Sept. 10, 2018, in his starting debut. But Darnold’s total was aided by special teams and defensive touchdowns, so per the question, he doesn’t beat Rypien. If you find someone else who topped that mark during the previous century, feel free to let me know.

Multiple roster projections I’ve seen, including yours, have Brett Rypien as odd man out in the QB room. I get that the plan is for Russ to take the great majority of snaps, and keeping only two QBs makes sense in that context. But Josh Johnson seems like the definition of low ceiling as a backup. Weren’t the Broncos high on Rypien’s potential? What happened to change that assessment? — John H.

Speaking of high-scoring gunslinger Brett Rypien …

John H. brings up a good point about Denver’s past affinity for Rypien. Last season, with word out that another team was about to sign the former Boise State star off Denver’s practice squad, the Broncos instead chose to move him to their own active roster and carry three quarterbacks. This front office still has a strong appreciation for the intangibles Rypien brings to the room. He’s an intelligent, affable teammate who has earned the respect of past coaches. But Johnson more closely fits the profile of a West Coast quarterback, a player who has seen it during a long pro football career and would probably give the Broncos the best chance at offensive continuity — though certainly at a much less explosive level — in the event Wilson were to miss time.

(Top photo of Quinn Meinerz: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)