The Denver Broncos have a chance to upgrade the roster through waiver claims. Here are some players they should seriously consider.
The Denver Broncos have cut their roster down to 53 players with very few surprises among the initial cuts. As fascinating as it is to watch all of these roster moves unfold for teams to set their initial groups of 53, it’s even more fascinating to see the fallout on the day after when teams put in waiver claims, set their practice squads, and make even more moves before the regular season gets underway.
George Paton said after the initial roster was set that he and the rest of the front office would be spending time into the night going over the players that were waived over the course of the last 48 hours to evaluate whether or not a couple of them could be fits for his roster.
Paton decided, at least initially, to keep just five wide receivers and effectively just five cornerbacks given the fact that Michael Ojemudia is going on short-term injured reserve sometime on Wednesday.
Mike Boone will also be going on short-term IR, and the Denver Broncos obviously placed a bit of an emphasis on special teams with their moves made on Tuesday, trading for Jonas Griffith and keeping way more defensive players than they did offensive players.
We weren’t in the room with George Paton and his crew, but we still have some ideas of who the team should look to claim off of waivers on Wednesday.
They won’t make seven waiver claims, but they could make a couple. Here are some names to watch out for.
Denver Broncos should claim these 7 players off waivers
1. Pooka Williams, RB (Bengals)
The Denver Broncos have brought in a number of smaller running backs with some big-time speed over the last couple of years, including one of their most recent acquisitions Adrian Killins Jr., a former Philadelphia Eagles player who unfortunately and almost immediately landed on injured reserve.
With the team’s speed at running back (Mike Boone) headed to short-term IR, could the Broncos look to another smaller, speedy playmaker for a true change of pace at the running back position?
We all know what Royce Freeman brings to the table, and it’s sort of the same thing to a lesser degree as what Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams will bring to the table.
Pooka Williams, a rookie out of Kansas, has some serious pop in terms of his ability to get upfield quickly and he showed in his time at Kansas that he is an effective all-around back, not only carrying the ball out of the backfield but catching passes and returning kicks.
The Broncos could use Pooka immediately as a kickoff returner and develop him as an intriguing offensive weapon.
George Paton emphasized the desire to improve the overall team speed, and right now, no one in the running back room has it.