Above all, I wanted to see the quarterbacks in this game. It feels established that Brian Hoyer is the man in San Fran, but how does he look? On the other side of the ball, who can run the offense in Denver?
Denver Broncos
- CJ Anderson is the lead back. He’s had injuries, and spells not being at his best, but he’s the best runner on the team. He had a couple of good runs, caught some balls, and seemed heavily involved. He received three goal-line carries on the first drive, and punched the ball in with the third. He’s a super talented back, with great balance, a low center of gravity and power in his thighs.
- De’Angelo Henderson, a sixth round pick from Coastal Carolina, looked fantastic. If CJA goes down, he’ll be a hot commodity and so he should be. He looked clearly better than Stevan Ridley and Kapri Bibbs. However, we have to take into account Jamaal Charles is being held out, and Devontae Booker is hurt. While Henderson may be talented, it might take a lot for him to be involved.
- Bennie Fowler looked like the first team slot receiver. We haven’t seen much from Carlos Henderson yet, but I’m sure talent-wise, he’s an upgrade. When will he break through?
- Paxton Lynch showed all the panic signs in this game – static feet, throws into double/triple coverage, bad balls, overthrows, and a simple lack of ability to move his offense down the field. He can scramble and run with his big body, but as a game-manager, he really struggled.
- Trevor Siemian, while clearly not a top quarterback in the league, at least seems to get the best from the attack. He spreads the ball around, gets the ball out of his hands, and manages to make things happen. I should note he played against the reserves, not first team, but I’ve felt the same way since first covering him last year.
San Francisco 49ers
- Hoyer was almost picked early, then Vance McDonald had a deflating drop. However, in general, he looked good. Marqise Goodwin was involved in a couple of long gains, and the offense moved pretty well. However, Goodwin couldn’t haul in a Hoyer throw and a Broncos’ defensive back made a great play on the ball for a pick – it wasn’t all on Hoyer.
- Carlos Hyde was involved quite heavily. I believe in his talent, but he’ll have to prove his worth to his coaches. He had a mishap early when he dropped a toss, but he can’t be doing things like that or the team will lose confidence.
- Deep dynasty sleeper, tight end George Kittle, had a “big boy” touchdown, where he broke a couple of tackles, showed speed down the sideline and barrelled over defenders into the end zone. He’s a name to watch in SF.
James Simpson 