How the Denver Broncos identify athletes for every position

What do the Denver Broncos look for in players to make up their roster?

In what has turned out to be one of the most fun exercises I’ve done in a while, I went through every position group on the Denver Broncos’ roster to see how John Elway and the front office evaluate talent from a purely measurable perspective.

We know the Broncos emphasized leadership in the 2018 NFL Draft and offseason in general, but what kinds of athletes does this team prefer? What size do they want at each position?

Some answers to these questions were more surprising than others.

At some positions, the Broncos definitely have a ‘type’, and some positions really need to be broken down on an individual basis because of a number of outliers.

The data I’ve compiled includes every player’s height and weight, along with either a 40-yard dash time or 10-yard split depending on position (speed, burst), as well as vertical jump (explosiveness, lower body strength), bench press (upper body strength), and either 20-yard shuttle or three-cone drill to measure short-area quickness and change-of-direction.

Here’s how the Denver Broncos’ roster is made up currently (not including specialists kicker, punter, and long snapper)…