Denver Broncos: Roster matchup with Las Vegas Raiders
2. Defense – S, CB, LB, DL
The Raiders defense is where they become a bit weaker personnel wise. The Broncos boast the best safety duo in the NFL with Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons.
The Raiders safeties include rookie Tre’Von Moehrig and Johnathan Abram, who is wildly inconsistent.
The Broncos get the clear edge here, and they do for the cornerbacks as well. The Raiders cornerback room includes veteran Casey Heyward, struggling second year man Damon Arnette, rookie Nate Hobbs, and Trayvon Mullen Jr.
The Raiders have had a bad secondary for a while now, and this still seems to be case. We know the talent in the Broncos secondary, so they have the advantage with the cornerbacks.
The linebackers get a bit interesting. The Raiders have a few savvy veteran linebackers with good to great talent. KJ Wright was a mainstay for the Seattle Seahawks for years, and Denzel Perryman has talent as well. They also have solid players like Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkowski.
Their linebacking corps is deep, at the very least, and with Josey Jewell out for the year for the Broncos, they appear to be relying on Alexander Johnson, rookie Baron Browning, and de-facto rookie Justin Strnad.
Von Miller is the last piece to the puzzle, so he gives the Broncos the overall talent advantage.
Now, for the defensive line.
The Broncos defensive line features Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell, Dre’Mont Jones, and other guys with talent like DeShawn Williams and McTelvin Agim.
It’s a very good group of players, however, I think the Raiders might have them beat.
The Raiders have a formidable pass rush duo of Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue, and their interior features guys like Johnathan Hankins, Quinton Jefferson, Damion Square, and Solomon Thomas, a former high draft pick.
I think the Raiders have the deeper group here, so they get the nod.
The defense goes to the Broncos, as they have a 3-1 position group advantage, bringing the total to 5-3-1 in favor of Denver.
Now, for the special teams.