Denver Broncos 2017 rookie class review and predictions for 2018
Marcus Rios, CB
Rios took Brendan Langley’s job as the Broncos’ fourth cornerback, and while he wasn’t perfect in coverage, he ended up flashing at times and making some really nice plays, especially on special teams.
I definitely think the Broncos’ scouting department deserves some credit here, as Rios was not on anyone’s radar in the pre-draft process, and he ended up fighting and clawing his way up into the depth chart late in the season. There’s something to be said for that.
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Elijah Wilkinson, OT
We never really got to see any extended reps from Wilkinson, but after initially starting the season on the Broncos’ practice squad, he was called up quickly when injuries started piling up at tackle.
The team obviously likes him, because they didn’t ever try and sneak him back to the practice squad, but they also opted to give reps in the final game to Cyrus Kouandjio rather than Wilkinson, so clearly he needs more development. I’ll be interested to see how he does this offseason.
Joseph Jones, LB/ST
Jones is a player the Broncos poached from the Seattle practice squad, and the reason they got him was clearly because they wanted to improve their special teams.
Jones has big time speed for a player with a linebacker’s size, and he played 159 snaps on special teams after being added to the Broncos’ regular season roster.
Jerrol Garcia-Williams, LB
When injuries piled up at linebacker for the Broncos this season, they called on the undrafted rookie out of Hawai’i from their practice squad, and he ended up playing 23 defensive snaps in addition to his 165 special teams plays.
He was another relatively unknown player coming out of college, but the Broncos liked what they saw in him enough to prioritize him over any other veterans they could have added midway through the season.
J.J. Dielman, OL
The Broncos tried to poach Dielman at the beginning of the regular season when he initially hit waivers, but the Rams had the higher priority at the time.
He was quickly let go from Los Angeles, and returned to the Bengals in a practice squad role after the Broncos had solidified their roster.
We did not get to evaluate Dielman on the field at all this season, but he is apparently a player this front office liked in the pre-draft process.