Denver Broncos: 5 players who disappointed in win over Vikings
Which Denver Broncos players were a little disappointing in the team’s preseason victory over the Minnesota Vikings? We break down five of them.
The Denver Broncos were tremendous in their first preseason game of 2021 against the Minnesota Vikings. From the very start of the game, the Broncos dominated in all phases of the game.
The homecoming for general manager George Paton included a brilliant performance from quarterback Drew Lock, a very good showing from Teddy Bridgewater, and an awesome debut for Patrick Surtain II.
I am not a negative person by any means, but we have to cover all angles of the game. Just understand that there is plenty of time for these players to get back on the saddle, and some of them will or at least might.
Which players were the most disappointing in this preseason matchup against the Minnesota Vikings? For a number of these guys, we’re having to split hairs because the team played so well as a whole. Here are five that need to be better going forward.
1. Tyrie Cleveland, WR
Unfortunately, this is the second straight “disappointing” list that Cleveland has landed on.
The former seventh-round pick showed a lot of promise as a rookie and was known coming out of Florida as one of the best special teams players in the draft.
He has been the unquestioned favorite to land the WR5 position on the roster, but there has since been some extremely potent contention for that job.
Not only is Trinity Benson likely guaranteed a roster spot at this point, but Kendall Hinton has been singled out as having an outstanding offseason.
Cleveland struggled with drops in training camp, then got hurt, but was able to come back for Vikings week.
In the game against Minnesota, he took a kickoff return just 16 yards, the shortest on the day for the Broncos, and just didn’t look as explosive as we’ve come to expect.
He couldn’t reel in his only pass target and had a modest six-yard gain on a designed run play to him.
There are still high hopes for Tyrie Cleveland. Perhaps he was feeling some lingering effects of his injury, so we’ll take it with a grain of salt. But we need to see better from him with such stout competition at the position.