Who’s trending up and who’s trending down after the Broncos’ second preseason game

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Thursday night in Seattle, the Broncos finally got to unveil their top offseason acquisitions.

Joe Flacco, Ja’Wuan James and Kareem Jackson all made their debut in Orange & Blue. But it wasn’t the top-dollar acquisitions that flashed in the Seattle sky, nor was it their fault the team fell 14-22 to the Seahawks.

Here’s who’s trending up, and down, after Denver’s second preseason game.

TRENDING UP

Drew Lock

John Elway’s most intriguing offseason acquisition looked like the player Elway himself deemed “the future” out of the gate.

After a shaky debut one week ago, Lock came out calm, cool and collected. But it was the eye-popping plays that highlighted why the Broncos’ used a second-round pick on the rookie.

On 3rd-and-11 from his own 32, pressure was barreling down on No. 3 as he released a perfectly placed ball to Troy Fumagalli beyond the first-down marker. The pass was so on-the-money, in fact, Fumagalli wasn’t even looking at the ball until it was sitting in his hands. It was the pass of the night, even with Paxton Lynch balling on the other side of the field.

“I just thought he threw it pretty damn good,” Vic Fangio said after the game, giving significant praise to his rookie quarterback. “He seemed to be a little bit more in control of the operation.”

What made it even more impressive was Lock maintained excellent composure, not only with the pressure in his face, but it came immediately after a pass sailed right through Fred Brown’s hands.

On the same drive, which led to a field goal, Lock placed a ball in tight coverage to where only Khalfani Muhammad could catch it. The 42nd-overall pick displayed his wheels and ability to hurt a defense in a variety of ways when he faced a 4th-and-1. On a run-pass option, Lock perfectly red the defensive end, faked the handoff—so much, so the TV broadcast lost sight of him—and took off for a gain of eight and a first down.

Lock continued to show excellent composure on the drive, hitting Nick Williams in-stride with a defender barreling down on him off a boot.

“I thought he was okay. Obviously, he can be better, but I thought he’s made progress this week—both in practice and in the game and I think it showed at times out there,” Fangio stated.

After an impressive first drive, Lock stalled as players rotated in and out around him, including a safety where Lock never saw the inside backer coming.

But he heated up in the final five minutes, leading a touchdown drive capped by a successful two-point conversion on a bullet pass to Juwann Winfree splitting three defenders.

Despite only putting up 11 points in the game, Lock flashed numerous times, showing his potential and bouncing back from a below-average debut.

“It’s still a process for him, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I think this past week and this past game were great for him,” Fangio said, showing confidence in Lock. “He needs to learn from everything and not consider plays failures, they are learning experiences right now, they aren’t failures.”

Malik Reed

Malik Reed shined in the first preseason game. He followed that up with another magnificent performance on Thursday night.

Using a late spin move, Reed collapsed the pocket and took down Geno Smith for his second sack of the preseason. Then, in back-to-back plays, Reed showed tremendous discipline, staying home on a play-action pass causing a loss of four and not letting Lynch take off on a run-pass option.

He did have a holding penalty, but that was far outweighed by his positive plays.

The Broncos are of course in great shape at outside linebacker with Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. But if Reed continues to develop, it will become even more dangerous. Even as an undrafted rookie, he’s put himself in a position to make the 53-man roster through two weeks of the preseason

The Two-headed Bronco

It was the Phillip Lindsay show out of the gate. The first-team offense’s first three plays, led by Flacco, all went to the Pro-Bowl running back.

Despite a miscommunication in the backfield on the handoff, which caused Lindsay and Flacco to collide, the elusive back still picked up 10 yards and a first down as he weaved himself through the middle of the field.

Then, it quickly became the Royce Freeman show. On 3rd-and-1, the power back burst through a massive hole in the line and took off for a game-long run of 50 yards to put the Broncos deep in Seattle territory.

For Denver’s play-action offense to succeed, Lindsay and Freeman will need to play at a high level. It didn’t look too far off from that on Thursday in their season debuts.

Dalton Risner

In his second career game, the Colorado Native had the block of the game. On Freeman’s 50-yard run, it was the rookie that parted the Seattle sea, which would have allowed a pee-wee player to pick up the first down.

Without the second-round pick’s block, Denver’s first-team unit likely wouldn’t have scored on their first and only possession.

Honorable Mentions

• Justin Hollins — Lined up outside, the versatile fifth-round linebacker shot out of a cannon, blowing by the left tackle and immediately forcing Paxton Lynch to take off for his life. It was a burst that’s rare to come by.
• De’Vante Bausby — The talented cornerback had an excellent pass breakup on third down to force Seattle’s offense off the field on their second series. He’s had such an impressive camp, he received the start as Bryce Callahan was sidelined due to an injury.
• Dekoda Watson — Watson’s tireless motor was on full display as he tore through multiple offensive linemen and was rewarded with a sack. He was brought to Denver mainly for his veteran presence, and superb special teams play, but he displayed he can still get after the quarterback.

TRENDING DOWN

Devontae Booker

The fourth-year running back was already trending in the wrong direction after the team signed Theo Riddick—a player that profiles very similar to Booker—within the last week. And on the very first play of the day, it only got worse for the third-down back and special teamer.

Returning the opening kickoff, Booker fumbled the ball upon contact. Although he recovered it, No. 23 only made it out to the 15-yard line. In order to make the final 53-man roster, Booker will have to prove his value on special teams. Fumbles don’t help with that.

Khalfani Muhammad

Muhammad was the Broncos’ unquestioned offensive star in their Week 1 victory over the Falcons, putting up a game-high 74 yards from scrimmage.

Seattle, however, put a damper on that despite a dry night from the clouds.

Muhammad followed up his 50 rushing yards in Week 1 with negative four on three carries in Week 2 and only added 10 yards through the air on two receptions. He brought his only kick return out to the 25-yard line—a push in terms of the grading scale.

His worst play, however, didn’t end up on the stat sheet. With Lock and the offense lined up deep in their own territory, Muhammad leaked out of the backfield, running right past a delayed-blitzing backer. Less than a second later, Lock was on the ground in the end zone with a linebacker standing over him.

Muhammad’s drastically different stat line wasn’t entirely all on him, of course, but he’ll be brought down from the high horse he was on following his magnificent Week 1 performance.

Trey Johnson

Much like Muhammad, Johnson didn’t follow up his impressive Week 1 performance with another hit on Thursday night.

Johnson missed a tackle at the line of scrimmage on a receiver screen, which opened up a big gain for the Seahawks. He also was beat deep on a pass down the left sideline courtesy of Paxton Lynch.

Not-so-honorable Mentions

• Connor McGovern — After a flawless game snapping the ball in Week 1, especially in the gun, McGovern had a low snap to Kevin Hogan on Thursday night. Hogan recovered and saved the play before Fumagalli dropped the pass.
• Theo Riddick — The do-it-all offensive weapon arrived in Denver with a bang. His first game with his new team, however, was underwhelming as he finished with negative two rushing yards and didn’t end up with a catch on his two targets—one of them hitting both of his hands on 4th down. This one performance, however, won’t hurt his status with the team, especially after only being with his new squad for less than a week.