Well the Denver Broncos lost to the Houston Texans 18-17 in what was a rough game for the Broncos. It took a while for their first team offense to get going and their second team offense never did. What makes it a little worse, tomorrow is cut day. Rosters have to be down to 75 players, which means for the most part 15 players will be cut. The Broncos, however, sit at 88 players currently. But, WR Jordan Norwood is part of the 88 and he should be either cut, or placed on IR. So they have 87 players which means 12 players will lose their job.
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I spent time thinking about QB Bryn Renner as the first cut, but with the Broncos likely to not play Peyton Manning next week, they need a third QB behind Brock Osweiler and Zac Dysert. However, the first two cuts are Brennan Clay and Jerodis Williams from the running back position. Williams has seen only a handful of snaps in three preseason games; his time has come to an end for a while. Clay sealed his fate with a bad drop in the last minute of the game. Outside of that, he didn’t have the best showing either.
Next up are WRs Nathan Palmer and Greg Hardin. Palmer has done well on special teams, but has not been able to crack it on offense. With Norwood done for the year and Welker with a concussion, the WRs need to be able to play on offense. Like Clay, Hardin sealed his fate with a drop, but it wasn’t just one drop. He has been getting worse as each game passes by. The Texans game was the final straw.
So far that is four cuts and eight more are needed. The next one to go is OG Ryan Miller and OT Winston Justice. Miller has not been able to crack the lineup. He wasn’t drafted by the Broncos, so the cut is easier than other OL cuts, like Paradis. Justice once was said to compete with RT Chris Clark for the starting RT position. Now he is just fighting for time. He has lost his #2 LT position to Paul Cornick, who has played great at LT and RT. Justice is a veteran, is 2 years older and would save the Broncos just over $1M in cap space. His time in Denver has come to an end.
Now with seven cuts to go it is time to take a look at the defensive side of the ball. Defensive ends Brian Sanford and Chase Vaughn are both on their way out. Neither player has seen a lot of time. Sanford saw time against the 49ers, but that was it. Even then, he was not very noticeable. Vaughn was getting talked about early in the offseason, but has since disappeared and is now stuck at the bottom of the totem pole. Going to the interior, it is safe to say goodbye to Cody Larsen. Larsen just hasn’t cut it. He had an up and down showing against the 49ers, but saw no time against the Texans.
Four more to go. Three of them come from the linebacker position, Jamar Chaney and L.J. Fort. Fort saw limited time against the 49ers and didn’t look all that great. There is nothing to keeping him around on the team. With Chaney, he also only played in garbage time against the 49ers. Hos play was not great either. When you are this low you have to show something worth keeping you around till the last cuts and potentially a practice squad spot, neither of these players did that.
Well the last cut was going to be Mitch Ewald. But, with Matt Praters looming suspension. It looks like the last cut will be TE Cameron Morrah. Morrah has had a rough time as a Bronco. His hands are inconsistent and his blocking skills are lacking.
That leaves 75 plays on the roster for the next week, then cuts have to happen to get down to 53 players.
Who’s left?
QB Peyton Manning, Brock Osweiler, Zac Dysert, Bryn Renner
RB Montee Ball, Ronnie Hillman, C.J. Anderson, Juwan Thompson, Kapri Bibbs
WR Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Wes Welker, Cody Latimer, Andre Caldwell, Isaiah Burse, Greg Wilson, Bennie Fowler
TE Julius Thomas, Jacob Tamme, Virgil Green, Gerell Robinson, Jameson Konz
OT Ryan Clady, Chris Clark, Paul Cornick, Michael Schofield
OG Orlando Franklin, Louis Vasquez, Ben Garland, Vinston Painter
C Manny Ramirez, Will Montgomery, Matt Paradis
DE DeMarcus Ware, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, Quanterus Smith, Kenny Anunike, Will Pericak
DT Terrance Knighton, Sylvester Williams, Marvin Austin, Kevin Vickerson, Mitch Unrein, Sione Fua
WLB Danny Trevathan, Brandon Marshall, Corey Nelson
MLB Nate Irving, Lamin Barrow, Steven Johnson
SLB Von Miller, Lerentee McCray, Shaquil Barrett
CB Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, Kayvon Webster, Bradley Roby, Omar Bolden, Tony Carter, Louis Young, Jordan Sullen, Jerome Murphy
S T.J. Ward, Rahim Moore, Quinton Carter, David Bruton, Duke Ihenacho, John Boyett, Charles Mitchell
ST Matt Prater, Britton Colquitt, Aaron Brewer, Mitch Ewald
Check in later for the actual Broncos cut!