Broncos Projected 53

Offense

QBs

1. Case Keenum

2. $wag Kelly

3. Vet to be named later. (Maybe Derek Anderson?)

There is no chance Paxton makes this team.  At this point in time there is no reason to keep him around and pretend he helps the roster.   A veteran QB for this team will be needed, even if Kelly is the #2, to provide stability and also to help mold Kelly into a solid professional.  Derek Anderson would be awesome for this.

RBs

1. Royce Freeman

2. Devontae Booker

3. Phillip Lindsay

4. Andy Janovich (FB)

Freeman obviously earned the starting job this preseason, and Lindsay has solidified his roster spot and his role with his play as a 3rd down back and as a returner. Janovich is a stud FB and it appears Musgrave has plans for utilizing the position. Booker makes the team just because he has experience and no one else has done anything to push for his job.

WRs

1. Emmanuel Sanders

2. Demaryius Thomas

3. Courtland Sutton

4.  DaeSean Hamilton

5. Tim Patrick

6. River Cracraft/ John Diarse

The top 4 are obvious outside of the fact that Sanders seems to be the new #1 WR for Keenum.   But Sanders Thomas Sutton and Hamilton could have been put down in ink on the depth chart AUG 1.  Tim Patrick is the next guy who has made plays and closely resembles the style of WR Denver prefers being tall long and fast.  The #6 WR could be cut altogether making room for another RB, but I think they keep 6.  Diarse is the better WR but Cracraft has benefits in the return game and could be kept in case of injury to one of the returners.

TEs

1. Jeff Heuerman

2. Jake Butt

3.  Austin Traylor

This also could be a spot where Denver only keeps 2 opposed to 3 but Musgrave likes playing from big sets and Traylor is a better blocking TE than Butt.  Rookie Troy Fumagalli will be sent to IR to red shirt a season like Butt did last year.

OL

1. Garrett Bolles

2.  Ron Leary

3.  Matt Paradis

4.  Connor McGovern

5. Jared Veldheer

6. Max Garcia

7. Billy Turner

8. Sam Jones

9. Cyrus Kouandjio

Turner can play either OT or OG, and has consistently outplayed Kouandjio this preseason.   Both Jones and Garcia can play either OG or C.  Kouandjio provides depth.

Defense

DL

1. Domata Peko

2. Derek Wolfe

3. Adam Gotsis

4.  Shelby Harris

5. DeMarcus Walker

6. Zach Kerr

This unit is finally deep enough again to rotate players out the way Bill Kollar likes to run his lines.   Harris has shown he could be pushing for a starting role and Walker and Gotsis have grown leaps and bounds.  (Thanks to Walker being in his correct position).

ILBs

1. Todd Davis

2. Brandon Marshall

3. Josey Jewell

4. Zaire Anderson

5. Alexander Johnson

Jewell has been a beast against the run and should get plenty of playing time this year. He’s definitely not a man cover guy but can play zone and has a nose for the ball.  Anderson has experience and has outplayed the other backups while Johnson just got paid in a bidding war for Denver to sign him. He won’t clear waivers so the raw monster of an ILB makes the 53.

OLBs

1. Von Miller

2. Bradley Chubb

3.  Shane Ray

4. Shaquil Barrett

No surprises here either.  This could have been inked in on the depth as soon as Shane Ray was cleared to participate.

CBs

1. Chris Harris Jr

2. Bradley Roby

3. Trumaine Brock

4. Adam Jones

5. Isaac Yiadom

 

Yiadom has been beaten regularly in preseason due to his poor mechanics.  Who better to teach the youngster than Adam Jones who has a great relationship with head coach Vance Joseph.

FS/SS

1. Darian Stewart

2. Justin Simmons

3. Will Parks

4. Su’a Cravens

5.  Dymonte Thomas

Both Stewart and Simmons can play either position so effectively Parks backs up both of them. He’ll play FS and the other will move to the SS position.  Both Cravens and Thomas will cover TEs and RBs.  Cravens makes this team without playing in preseason but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dymonte takes his job due to the fact that he is finally healthy and playing at a high level.

STs

PK Brandon McManus

P Marquette King

LS Casey Kreiter

PR Adam Jones

KR Phillip Lindsay

Practice Squad

Jeff Holland

JJ Dielman

John Diarse/ River Cracraft

Dave Williams

Keyshawn Bierria

CJ Smith

Mark Chapman

3 players from other teams


Notable Cuts

Brendan Langley – While he may be a PS candidate the guy just can’t hack.

Paxton Lynch-  Lol.

DeAngelo Henderson – the shifty back is just underdeveloped and is lost in a cramped backfield.  He will get picked up by another team.