ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The preseason is over. The roster is in. The feel-good stories are written, and the dreams are crushed.
Now, it’s time to get down to business.
In nine short days, the Denver Broncos will take on the Oakland Raiders in Week 1 of the 100th NFL season, and while less than a half of preseason action didn’t teach us much about the actual team as a whole, a look at the roster will tell you a lot about the outlook for these Broncos.
Here’s the deal—the top of the roster is legit. These guys can compete. Even on the offensive line, the first unit is NFL-caliber. As you peruse around the depth chart, you can see the path to this team being a real contender to make the playoffs, especially on the defense.
Von Miller. Chris Harris Jr. Bradley Chubb. Bryce Callahan. Kareem Jackson. Shelby Harris, and the list goes on. The defense could very easily be a top-three unit in the NFL.
Offensively, Joe Flacco can be solid. The wide receiver group, featuring Emmanuel Sanders, can make plays. Phillip Lindsay will do Phillip Lindsay things, and the tight ends are going to be serviceable.
But the offensive competence comes with an “if.” A very, very big “if.”
This group has a chance if they stay healthy, but the roster on that side of the ball is simply not built to absorb injuries.
If you take Emmanuel Sanders out of the wide receiver room, you have nobody who can get consistent separation. If you take Phillip Lindsay out of the running back room, you have no explosion. If Joe Flacco gets hurt, you’re going to be starting Brandon Allen. Take Noah Fant out of the tight end room and you’ve got nothing to be excited about.
Even some of the secondary options at the skill positions, like Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman and even Jeff Heuerman, would create problems for the offense if lost for an extended period of time.
Because of Elijah Wilkinson, you can probably sustain one total injury on the offensive line, but anything beyond that is going to be panic time.
The Broncos’ offense is like a bar that has nothing in the middle. You have your choice of the top-shelf stuff or the well drinks. And the wells are going to leave you with a mighty hangover.
On the defensive side of things, you feel better about the depth, especially because of some of the potential shown from young players like Malik Reed and Dre’Mont Jones, but there’s one main position of concern.
If you go into a game with Todd Davis and Josey Jewell as your inside guys, you feel okay about that. But suddenly, if you take one of them out—as the team has already dealt with this preseason—you’re looking at a guy who spent three years out of the league in A.J. Johnson, or Corey Nelson, who hasn’t been able to stick anywhere since leaving Denver and is going to need some time to learn the defense.
Not ideal.
The truth is, this is normally the case for a team that is rebuilding, and much as they don’t want to admit it, that’s where the Broncos are. Everyone in the NFL has great players, but it’s what you have behind those guys that often makes the difference.
I hate to say it Broncos fans, but the team’s playoff chances rest on good ol’ luck. So rub a rabits foot, find a four-leaf clover and most definitely touch some wood. They’re going to need all the help they can get.
