The Broncos defense shows up favorably in the season-long rankings. They've got a talented roster, with Von Miller (pictured) returning, and Vic Fangio knows his stuff. They'll likely be ranked very favorably in Week 1, because they're facing Daniel Jones.
Jones is entering his third season as the Giants quarterback, and while the team has put some nice players around him at the skill positions, it hasn't happened on the offensive line. Their tackle additions, both in free agency (Nate Solder) and via the draft (Andrew Thomas), haven't panned out, and some responsibility must be put on Jones himself -- not recognizing pressure well enough, and not protecting the football when he gets it.
Wherever you want to lay the blame, Jones has been a fantasy defense's best friend. In 26 starts, he's thrown 22 interceptions, taken 83 sacks and fumbled 28 times, losing 16 of them. Dial up some nice numbers for Broncos in Week 1. (In Week 2 the Giants go on the road to face another top defense, Washington.)
| DANIEL JONES GAME LOG, SACKS AND TURNOVERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Int | Sk | Fum | FL |
| 2019 | at T.B. | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019 | Was. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Min. | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | at N.E. | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Ariz. | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 2019 | at Det. | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2019 | Dal. | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019 | at NYJ | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 2019 | at Chi. | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2019 | G.B. | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | at Was. | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | Phi. | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 2020 | Pit. | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | at Chi. | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | S.F. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | at LAR | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | at Dal. | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | Was. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | at Phi. | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | T.B. | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Was. | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | Phi. | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | at Cin. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Ariz. | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 2020 | at Bal. | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Dal. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Tot | 22 | 83 | 28 | 16 | |
| Avg | 0.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.6 | |
There could be worse strategies this year than simply following Jones around, picking up opposing defenses wherever possible. Denver and Washington don't apply, probably drafted in most leagues. But maybe spot starts for available defenses like Atlanta, Dallas, Carolina and others, when the Giants are on the schedule.
--Andy Richardson