This offseason, Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave tweaked the Broncos' offense, making it easier to grasp and allowing the team to lock in on a core set of concepts geared toward the strengths of quarterback Case Keenum and his supporting cast.
The scheme matters. But Keenum means at least as much to reversing the offense's fortunes, bringing experience to the position that the Broncos had lacked over the last two years.
After six previous seasons that included 40 regular-season and postseason starts, four offensive schemes, four cities, three different teams, a franchise relocation and a year on Houston's practice squad, Keenum has seen almost everything a quarterback can experience in the NFL.
But what is most relevant for the Broncos and what he brings to the offense is his ability to use his years of collected wisdom to help his teammates.
"He knows his stuff and he knows exactly what he's looking for when it comes to the routes," rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton said during OTAs. "He comes to us all the time and is like, 'Hey, on that one, I think it's best that you do this, do that, and I think the ball will be in a better spot for you to get open.'
"To have a quarterback like that who really knows what he's talking about and who's experienced things that I obviously haven't experienced because I'm a rookie [is huge]. He's seen things that I haven't seen, so any time he's talking to me I get to absorb all of that information."
The fact that Keenum has a stellar season and a playoff win in his back pocket adds weight to his words and leadership.
"He's collected, he gets in that huddle and he demands," left tackle Garett Bolles said during OTAs. "But he showed us in the offseason, before we even started OTAs. He's bringing us along, we're doing outings together -- hockey games and all those things. He's taking control."
Keenum's impact is evident to the defensive players, as well.
"I always say I'm not a quarterback coach, but just from what I've seen, he looks comfortable," safety Justin Simmons said during OTAs.
"The guys have already rallied around him. I know he talks about how he wanted to come in and earn that leadership spot. I'm not speaking for him or for anyone on the offensive side, but I feel like he is definitely earning it -- if not has earned it [outright]."
Keenum's impact should also be evident in the numbers he produces. Even if he does not match his sizzling 2017, when he posted career highs in passer rating (98.3) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (22-to-7), just leveling off at the halfway point between his Rams form -- when he posted a 79.5 passer rating over three seasons -- and his Vikings work will ensure the Broncos of massive improvement from the position after last year's quarterbacks combined for a 73.0 rating, the second-worst in the league.
But the 2017 season also represented the first campaign in which he started double-digit games, offering reason to believe that Keenum's future output should resemble his Minnesota form rather than his Rams and Texans performance.
"That season he had in Minnesota was not a fluke thing. It was 100 percent who he is," Bolles said. "[He's] a man that has been benched and moved around multiple times and still fought his way to the top and took his team as far as he did."
