4 Denver Broncos depth chart risers after preseason win vs. Cowboys

One preseason game down, two to go. The Denver Broncos opened up the preseason with a decisive win against the Dallas Cowboys, and even though the final score doesn’t matter, everything within the four quarters does matter. Some players are fighting for their roster lives and others are fighting for positioning on the depth chart or a higher percentage of snaps in the regular season.

Preseason games can be an opportunity for guys to do all of the above, which is why they are so much fun to watch. Against the Dallas Cowboys, the Broncos showed well in every phase — offense, defense, and special teams. Which players stood out the most?

Which players may be getting bumped up the depth chart a bit after this game? Who might have earned a little trust from the coaches for more snaps in the regular season? Let’s take a look at some of the top depth chart risers after Week 1 of the preseason.

Denver Broncos depth chart riser no. 1: Baron Browning, EDGE

There’s absolutely no question after the first preseason game that Baron Browning is going to be seeing a lot more of the field in his second NFL season. Browning has been transitioning from off-ball linebacker to the edge, and you can’t help but get the feeling this was the plan the front office and general manager George Paton had for him all along.

The Broncos made a sacrifice at the off-ball linebacker position by moving Browning to the edge, and are even making new contingency plans after the injury to Jonas Griffith by signing veteran Joe Schobert. Browning is an edge, and it’s not likely we’re going to see him at inside linebacker unless something devastating happens to the team’s depth there.

Browning’s explosiveness off the edge is notable, but he doesn’t just play with speed out there and get blown off the ball by strong offensive linemen in the running game. He’s more than capable of setting the edge and playing the run as well.

It’s interesting to see Browning coming primarily off the right side of the line, where Bradley Chubb typically lines up. Whenever Chubb needs a breather, you can likely expect Browning to be the first man up even though Malik Reed is technically listed as a starter right now along with Gregory.

It’s just very hard to see how the Broncos could justify putting Reed out there over Browning at this point with the great things Browning has shown day in and day out at camp, leading up to being arguably the most impressive overall player in the team’s preseason win against Dallas.

Denver Broncos depth chart riser no. 2: Kendall Hinton, WR

The wide receiver position seems to be like a deck of cards getting reshuffled every single day for the Denver Broncos.

One day it’s Brandon Johnson. The next day it’s Seth Williams. Then it’s Jalen Virgil. Then it’s Kendall Hinton. There’s a never-ending cycle, seemingly, of players who are making noise at training camp and then in the team’s preseason game, when you’re looking for guys to really separate themselves, it seems like every single one of them has a great game.

Brandon Johnson is someone we’ll talk about in a bit here. Spoiler alert. One player that I think has really solidified himself as a top 4-5 receiver on this roster is Kendall Hinton. Hinton had already drawn some rave reviews throughout the offseason from Russell Wilson and the coaching staff, and the previous regime in Denver loved him also.

It wasn’t just his courage to go out there against a brutally tough defense as the emergency quarterback against the New Orleans Saints. It was Hinton’s development on the practice field at the wide receiver position. He really only played receiver for one season at Wake Forest and racked up 1,000 yards in his first year doing it.

His development with the Denver Broncos over the last couple of years has been slow and steady, but we saw great signs of growth in 2021 and now in 2022, Hinton looks like an even more dynamic player. The way he went up for this touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys raised a lot of eyebrows in Broncos Country.

It’s just an outstanding play on the ball by Kendall Hinton, who has proven that he can win in a variety of different ways at the receiver position. Initially, it looked like he might be a nice backup option out of the slot. Then all of a sudden he’s making plays after the catch. Now, he’s showing the ability to go up and make acrobatic catches in contested coverage in the end zone.

To me, Hinton is that guy that, if KJ Hamler isn’t in the lineup, he’s the first guy whose number will be called. Montrell Washington has had an outstanding offseason and he’s going to play plenty, but Hinton looks like he’ll be the “WR4” in this offense and the first guy up in the rotation after Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and KJ Hamler.

Denver Broncos depth chart riser no. 3: Matt Henningsen, DL

Looking at the Denver Broncos’ defensive line, it will be fascinating to see what kind of rotation the team has when the season kicks off in Seattle. The top three right now are Dre’Mont Jones, DJ Jones, and De’Shawn Williams with Mike Purcell as one of the top reserves.

Outside of the top four guys, it’s really tough to know where the Broncos stand in terms of the defensive line depth chart. There’s competition between guys like McTelvin Agim and Jonathan Harris, who might be fighting for a roster spot, but then you’ve got guys like rookies Eyioma Uwazurike and Matt Henningsen.

Henningsen has had himself a nice couple of weeks here in August and was really heating up in practice before getting the chance to basically play the entire game against the Cowboys.

It didn’t take long for him to make an impact, either.

Although there was a miscommunication by the Cowboys on this play, Henningsen took advantage of the opportunity and made a great legal hit on the quarterback, which can’t be understated given how easy it is to draw a flag these days. Although Henningsen plays like his shoes are on fire, he’s not out of control and he plays within the confines of the rules of the game.

At practices, Henningsen has been disruptive, batting down passes, getting tackles for loss, and “sacking” the quarterback. He’s been making plays and you can’t help but wonder if the Broncos are going to want to see him play a significant role this season.

Henningsen was playing almost a nose tackle role on the play where he got to Cowboys backup QB Cooper Rush. He can play all over the defensive line and I think that only helps his cause to get a bump up the depth chart.

Denver Broncos depth chart riser no. 4: Brandon Johnson, WR

We already talked about Kendall Hinton, now it’s time to talk (some more) about rookie receiver Brandon Johnson.

Johnson got some love from Brian Baldinger, who really applauded some of the more “veteran” poise he showed especially in the team’s two-minute drill to score just before the half against the Cowboys. It’s not just that Johnson had a good game against the Cowboys, either. He’s been making waves pretty much all offseason.

It’s always great to see rookie free agents step up and get opportunities, but if you had asked just about anyone at the time the NFL Draft was going down what the hardest position for an undrafted player to make the roster would be, I don’t think anyone would have hesitated to say wide receiver. The Broncos have just been loaded there and there might have been one spot open, if that.

The injury to Tim Patrick has sort of shifted things dramatically for the way the Broncos could end up building the roster at receiver. Before, they might have been pretty strict about keeping six guys. With the way some of the players they have on the roster right now have been playing in the preseason, the Broncos probably couldn’t sneak someone like Brandon Johnson through waivers and get him to the practice squad.

And after Tim Patrick’s injury, would they even want to? The team decided to go with the in-house, next-man-up approach after Patrick’s injury. Because they decided to go that route, they kind of put the writing on the wall that they were going to be more willing to keep standout players that were already on the roster if they showed well in camp and preseason action.

If your decision after the Patrick injury was to replace him with in-house guys, you can’t send those guys to waivers.

That’s why I think someone like Brandon Johnson may have ascended to WR6 on this roster, which may not even be the final WR spot. Will the Broncos actually cut Jalen Virgil if he continues to play like he did against the Cowboys, especially with how impactful he can be on special teams? I don’t know how they could do that.

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Brandon Johnson showed outstanding poise and strong hands in his debut for the Broncos and that’s not been unusual for him in daily practices, either. Considering his ties to Zach Azzanni dating back to when Johnson was being recruited out of high school (the same high school Pat Surtain II attended), I think he’s approaching “lock” status for the roster, much less rising up the depth chart.