Welcome to the Broncos' lifeboat auditions, there's only so much room

The Broncos 2019 season was about ready to capsize on Sunday, as they woke up staring 0-5 right in the eyes, and while the ship may be headed for the bottom of the sea, Sunday’s win provided a bit of buoyancy, and thus a chance to get more players onto the proverbial lifeboat.

You see, while it’s clear that the Broncos have a rebuild on their hands, Sunday’s win highlighted the fact that the first floor of the building is already in place, and that’s great news.

Take a look at some of the players who had a big impact for the Broncos on Sunday.

Phillip Lindsay had 147 all-purpose yards and a touchdown while averaging 7.6 yards per carry. He’s 25 years old.

Courtland Sutton had 93 yards receiving, including an explosive 70-yard touchdown. He’s 23 years old.

Dalton Risner led the way for a rushing attack that nearly hit 200 yards. 24 years old.

Royce Freeman averaged a solid 4.7 yards per carry. 23 years old.

Those guys are the first ones on the boat.

Now go ahead and put Kareem Jackson on there, as well. While he certainly isn’t as young as those other guys (31), he’s under contract through 2021, and he was the defensive player of the game on Sunday, as he spent the day at safety.

Von Miller, who has played much better over the last two weeks, is also under contract through 2021 and is still an impact player in this league.

Of note: While he didn’t make an impact today, Noah Fant also has a reserved seat on the boat. As does Bradley Chubb.

The rest of this season is now about finding out who else you want to keep on that floatation device, and multiple players made some convincing cases for consideration on Sunday.

Over the course of two weeks now, Malik Reed has shown he has all sorts of ability for getting after the passer. He’s up for consideration.

“Malik has done great for us,” said Von Miller.

In his first career start, A.J. Johnson showed serious flashes, racking up nine tackles, including one for a loss and one that saved a touchdown, to go along with an interception and a pass defensed that should have been another pick. He’s up for consideration.

“I like A.J.” Said Fangio. “I think he has the ability to be an NFL linebacker.”

“He’s a big-time linebacker,” added Miller. “He has the size, he has the speed, and he’s smart. It feels good to have things go his way.”

Mike Purcell, showed that he can be the force at nose tackle that a 3-4 defense needs. He’s up for consideration.

“I wanted to get Mike up,” said Fangio. “The best thing Mike does is play the run,

Justin Simmons started the Broncos’ turnover party, he’s in the mix. Will Parks made his presence felt with multiple crushing hits, he’s in the mix. Shelby Harris finally looked like a playmaker at his natural position of defensive end, he’s in the mix. Duke Dawson looked like a player at nickel, he’s in the mix.

These guys, and just about everyone else on the team, now have 11 more games to earn their spot on the lifeboat, and of course, the most important audition will be that of Drew Lock, who will be auditioning for the role of captain of the next ship to set sail.

The Broncos are a long way away from where they want to be, but they may already have the players who are going to get them there. And that’s huge.