Denver Broncos 53-man roster prediction ahead of first preseason game
The Denver Broncos have been hard at work preparing for the 2021 season at training camp. How will the 53-man roster look for week 1 against the Giants?
The Denver Broncos are approaching their first preseason game of the 2021 season, and after the extremely difficult 2020 season, it’s safe to say fans are more excited for this particular preseason game than most. Everyone wants to see proof in a game setting that the team is improved.
There is no question that, in year one with George Paton calling the shots as general manager, the Denver Broncos look improved on paper. We have yet to see — fully, anyway — the improvements guys who were already on the roster have made.
A number of players have begun to break through at training camp. A number of players have been coming back strong from injury. The team’s depth is beginning to take form all over the roster and decisions will need to be made sooner rather than later.
How will the Denver Broncos’ roster look come week one against the New York Giants? What difficult decisions will need to be made?
We’re going to break it down ahead of the first preseason game, though these predictions are undoubtedly bound to change as these games are played.
Special Teams: 3 (3/53)
- Brandon McManus, K
- Sam Martin, P
- Jacob Bobenmoyer, LS
At this particular point in time, none of the specialists in Denver have any competition. The Broncos briefly brought in Max Duffy as competition for Sam Martin, but ultimately decided to let him go after his brief time with the team during OTAs.
Brandon McManus has clearly been working on his long-range game in training camp, attempting a lot of kicks in the high-50s, low 60s range.
Hopefully, these players will be good enough at their jobs to not grab any headlines throughout the season.
Quarterback: 2 (5/53)
- Drew Lock
- Teddy Bridgewater
It’s tough to cut Brett Rypien, but the Denver Broncos probably can’t afford to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster heading into the 2021 season given the depth elsewhere on the roster and the need for so many other guys to be used on game days.
Barring an injury in the preseason to either Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater, the team should be safe heading into the 2021 season with those two guys on the active roster and it’s probably also likely that Rypien will make it to the practice squad as plenty of teams across the league will probably be trying to do this exact same thing.
For the time being, it’s Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater. Which one will be the week one starter? As of right now, Drew Lock opened camp getting the first shot at reps as the incumbent, and so far Vic Fangio says there has been no separation. If that’s true, things are probably leaning in Lock’s direction at this point in time.