Denver Broncos: Essang Bassey making late push for roster

Essang Bassey is making a serious push for the Denver Broncos roster.

Don’t put your final Denver Broncos roster predictions in pen just yet. It sounds like rookie undrafted free agent Essang Bassey is making a serious push for the final roster after a pretty quiet camp from what the media has reported.

The Broncos’ coaching staff obviously observes practice daily, but then they go back and watch the tape of practice every night and evaluate player performance. The media doesn’t get the same luxury nor are there enough people in attendance to really get a clear report of every player on the roster right now.

One of the position groups Fangio has been asked about almost every day and for certain every week at least a couple of times is the cornerback position, where AJ Bouye and Bryce Callahan have proven themselves and entrenched themselves in the starting lineup.

Behind those guys, it’s anyone’s guess as to which player will be the top cornerback in the nickel defense, which is essentially a starter’s position in today’s NFL.

The Broncos have floated a number of guys out there between Isaac Yiadom, Davontae Harris, and De’Vante Bausby, but it appears as though a darkhorse in Bassey could be emerging before our eyes.

Fangio, speaking to the media on Wednesday, said that he made the decision on Tuesday night to throw Bassey out with the top nickel defense (playing inside with Callahan outside) as a ‘test’, not necessarily a depth chart move.

When asked how he looked while taking that particular test, Fangio said, “I thought he did pretty damn good.”

This is pretty huge.

Bassey has not really been the talk of Denver Broncos training camp even though there’s usually plenty of hype surrounding at least one undrafted rookie free agent. Bassey was considered a top nickel-type cornerback prospect coming out of Wake Forest with his physical style of play, speed, and quickness.

His overall size may mean he’s limited to nickel work in the NFL but we’ve seen Bryce Callahan grow in that regard.

Initially, though, wouldn’t it be something if the year the Denver Broncos let Chris Harris Jr. go that another undrafted Cinderella story would emerge?

You have to wonder why, of all the players at the cornerback position, Fangio decided to throw this opportunity at Bassey, in particular.

Was it his final test of making the team? Fangio noted he wanted the players around Bassey to get a ‘feel’ for playing together with him, which is as good of an indicator as anything that the Broncos intend to have this guy on the roster come week one.

It’s hard not to overreact to something like this considering the timing and circumstances surrounding the decision by Fangio.