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Denver Broncos: Early 53-man roster projections

By Graham Tiedtke

ENGLEWOOD, CO MARCH 16: John Elway, general manager and executive vice president of football operations of the Denver Broncos and head coach Vance Joseph present quarterback Case Keenum with his jersey with the no.4 on it during a press conference on March 16, 2018 at Dove Valley. Case Keenum agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
ENGLEWOOD, CO MARCH 16: John Elway, general manager and executive vice president of football operations of the Denver Broncos and head coach Vance Joseph present quarterback Case Keenum with his jersey with the no.4 on it during a press conference on March 16, 2018 at Dove Valley. Case Keenum agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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Here is an early prediction of the Broncos’ 2018 roster. Which 53 players could end up making the Denver Broncos for the up-coming season?

ENGLEWOOD, CO MARCH 16: John Elway, general manager and executive vice president of football operations of the Denver Broncos and head coach Vance Joseph present quarterback Case Keenum with his jersey with the no.4 on it during a press conference on March 16, 2018 at Dove Valley. Case Keenum agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
ENGLEWOOD, CO MARCH 16: John Elway, general manager and executive vice president of football operations of the Denver Broncos and head coach Vance Joseph present quarterback Case Keenum with his jersey with the no.4 on it during a press conference on March 16, 2018 at Dove Valley. Case Keenum agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /

The NFL Draft is over and now it’s time for teams to get into practice mode. Here is my prediction on the Broncos’ 2018 roster.

There will be major changes from now to week one, but I am going based off of the current roster.

Quarterback: Case Keenum; Paxton Lynch; Chad Kelly.

Keenum is a lock. The Broncos signed the former Viking to be their starter for the 2018 season in hopes of improving at the position. Keenum reportedly had a great first day running the team’s offense. Last season, the Broncos started three quarterbacks (Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, and Paxton Lynch). That turned out to be a major failure.

Lynch was assigned the backup spot behind Keenum after the team decided against drafting a quarterback this past weekend. It is a surprise to me that the Broncos are still keeping him on the roster after he has been unable to dethrone 7th-round pick Trevor Siemian. Brock Osweiler, who was a second-round pick, also went ahead of him on the depth chart.

Now Case Keenum, who went undrafted in 2012 beat him out without even a competition taking place.

Running Back: Devontae Booker; Royce Freeman; De’Angelo Henderson; Phillip Lindsay.

C.J. Anderson is no longer on the team.

That means there will be competition in training camp for the starting job in Denver. I think that Booker will be the top guy to start out. However, Freeman will get a crack at knocking Booker down the depth chart. I love the current runners on the team.

Lindsay is an undrafted rookie from Colorado who has a big upside. He could be an undrafted gem for the Broncos when it’s all said and done.

I believe Andy Janovich will stick with the team as the starting (and likely only) fullback for the Broncos.

Wide Receiver: Demaryius Thomas; Emmanuel Sanders; Courtland Sutton; DaeSean Hamilton; Carlos Henderson; Isaiah McKenzie.

The team’s two starting receivers will  be back. There could be a change in the depth chart, however. Sutton is a big receiver who could pair up with Thomas as the other starter. In that scenario, Sanders would move to the slot position.

The other three receivers could take cracks at special teams. Henderson’s rookie season was lost, so I believe that he will work a lot on special teams. McKenzie had a case of the dropsies last season as a returner, but hopefully he can redeem himself and stop fumbling away the football to opposing teams.

Tight End: Jake Butt; Jeff Heuerman; Troy Fumagalli.

Jake Butt is another player whose season was lost, after suffering a major injury in his final college game. The combination of Butt and Heuerman could potentially be deadly.

The team’s tight end group is a big one. Butt is 6’6″, while Heuerman and Fumagalli both stand at 6’5″. Those are some big targets for Case Keenum to throw to. Hopefully the tight end crop is very productive. The Broncos lost former starter Virgil Green to the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason.

Offensive Line: Garett Bolles; Matt Paradis; Menelik Watson; Max Garcia; Jared Veldheer; Ron Leary; Sam Jones; Connor McGovern; Cyrus Kouandjio; JJ Dielman.

Bolles and Paradis are the team’s left tackle and center, respectively. I think Veldheer will lock up the right tackle spot in training camp.

The biggest questions are at the guard positions. In my opinion, Denver should put their rookie draft pick, Sam Jones, in one of those positions and see how he does.

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