Season captains for the Broncos were typically appointed by coaches or voted upon by teammates and, for the most part, out of the control of those selected. Either you were wanted as a captain, or you weren’t. Sometimes there were three Chosen Ones a year, sometimes six. But they were labeled and known and that was that.



Vic Fangio quickly tossed that tradition.



“I just think everybody’s got the license to become a leader on the team,” he said. “You don’t need to be appointed. I think leadership is something that somebody takes; it’s not granted to them, whether it be by a coaching staff or a vote. You take it. You don’t get proclaimed that.”



As early as April, second-year wide receiver Courtland Sutton took his captainship. In April, he essentially declared himself the Broncos’ No. 1 wide receiver, a label that, like top-100 selections, has become more and more meaningless with each...