ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Vance Joseph sent a clear message to his defense as it gathered ahead of the Denver Broncos’ first offseason practice last week.Everything the unit accomplished last season, the veteran coordinator told his players, means nothing as it relates to 2026. The franchise-record 68 sacks? The top-two finishes in yards per game allowed, third-down defense and red-zone efficiency? The clutch stops that helped fuel an 11-game win streak and run to the AFC Championship Game?None of that carries over into a campaign Denver enters with Super Bowl hopes.“It’s a new slate,” star cornerback Pat Surtain II said in summarizing Joseph’s message. “Teams are getting better and better. We’ve got to find a way to get better than we (were) last year. We fell short last year, and we’ve definitely got high hopes and aspirations coming up.”The Broncos enter 2026 with remarkable continuity on defense. Defensive end John Franklin-Myers, who signed a lucrative contract with the Tennessee Titans, is the lone starter from last season’s unit who did not return. The depth spots are largely populated by holdovers with experience in Joseph’s scheme, which means the Broncos aren’t spending their offseason onboarding a host of key new figures. They may not get to pick up where they left off last season, but there is an intimate knowledge of how the defense can once again establish itself as a top unit.“Coaches say all the time, ‘Ah, if we could just run it back, we could go be better,’ and then they let half their guys go and sign all new free agents, and you’re just like, ‘Were they lying to us? What was upstairs thinking?'” Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton told reporters earlier this month at an event to raise money for Special Olympics. “Instead, we’re in an organization right now where what they’ve said is completely true. … Now, we’ve had a year of winning where we got close. Instead of trying to fix something that isn’t broken with new pieces, we just kind of (reunited) the band, and we’re going to see what happens. I think we’re weeks, months, if not years ahead of a lot of teams in the league.”That familiarity, Joseph has told his players to begin the offseason, must result in the Broncos improving one glaring weakness from last season: an inability to consistently create takeaways. Denver caused only 14 turnovers in 2025, a mark that ranked 26th in the NFL. It was the team’s lowest output since 2008. The Broncos had eight games in which they did not force a turnover, including in two of their three losses (Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars).The Broncos flipped the switch in the playoffs, forcing five turnovers in the divisional round victory against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. That included an acrobatic, thieving interception by Ja’Quan McMillian in overtime that preceded Denver’s game-winning drive. Pass rusher Nik Bonitto forced two fumbles by attacking Allen’s elbow.