While the Broncos are riding high into their November schedule, a few players are still wondering where their seasons have gone. The Broncos built their roster to be led by a fusion of veteran leadership and younger contributions. Despite their best plans, a few important Broncos veterans have not lived up to their billing so far.
The Broncos did nothing to add to their roster at the 2025 trading deadline, but this doesn't take the pressure off a few Broncos. With the playoff push coming into focus, the Broncos can't afford to allow time for working out kinks and issues for much longer. More closely on their horizons, Denver's Week 11 matchup with the Chiefs could decide the AFC West's fate.
Two Broncos veterans in particular stand out as in need of a strong week of production on Thursday Night Football. On the defensive side of the ball, Denver's inside linebacking core has gotten more and more production over the past few weeks since the return of Dre Greenlaw. Offensively, Denver's weapons are improving by the week, but it could be enough to push this one Bronco out of the primary game plan.
Justin Strnad and Evan Engram have the most to lose during Denver's Week 10 matchup against the Raiders
For Strnad, he finds himself in an interesting bind moving into November: he has performed well, but Alex Singleton continues to receive the absurd majority of defensive snaps up the middle, and Greenlaw's snap count is increasing by the week. His interception of Jaxson Dart in Week 7 was arguably the play of the season thus far. Even his sacking of the quarterback, a career-high 3.5 so far, has been a welcome addition to his game.
Despite this, he hasn't been able to see a jump in snaps and run with the production. Conversely, on the offense, Evan Engram might be on his final legs with his regular dose of starting tight end snaps. With the Broncos beginning to find more offensive production from different parts of the field, Engram could find himself moving into more of a secondary role on the offense.
Engram, once hailed as the joker that Sean Payton had been looking for, is fourth on the Broncos in receiving yards thus far. With the growing emergence of RJ Harvey as a legitimate scoring threat, Engram could quickly find himself as the fifth option for the Broncos through their passing game. He has become a reliable receiving option and safety blanket for Bo Nix, but he has yet to have the explosive element that many Broncos fans had been praying for this summer.