Top 5 Broncos players to watch against Bills in preseason Week 2

Denver Broncos player to watch vs. Bills: Jalen Virgil, WR/KR

How could you not be absolutely giddy about the chance to see this Denver Broncos wide receiver group in action again? The Broncos’ young receivers stepped up in a big way against the Dallas Cowboys, pretty much throughout the entire game.

• Jalen Virgil: 3 catches, 83 yards
• Brandon Johnson: 4 catches, 64 yards
• Kendall Hinton: 3 catches, 53 yards, 1 TD
• Seth Williams: 4 catches, 29 yards, 1 TD

It was a truly stellar performance from the young receivers, who made plays all throughout the game, and Jalen Virgil was someone who kind of started to steal the show as the game wore along.

He showed off his outstanding deep speed, which could end up being a huge factor in his overall roster evaluation. Not only is this kind of speed useful offensively, but it can be a huge asset for the Broncos on special teams, where Virgil is already a proven return specialist.

Hopefully against Buffalo, Virgil is able to get some chances in the kickoff return game, where he was sensational at the college level. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns at Appalachian State and averaged over 30 yards per return for his career. Considering he only got 38 opportunities to return kickoffs, that’s not bad at all.

The Broncos wide receiver room situation is not yet solidified, in my opinion. I think you’ve got five players that are locks for the roster in Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, Montrell Washington, and I’ll include Kendall Hinton in there as well. Beyond those five guys, who is making the team? Can the Broncos justify keeping only six with this kind of talent on the roster?

The team made a tough decision last year to trade away Trinity Benson, but that was after going into the regular season with a healthy top four of Sutton, Tim Patrick, Jeudy, and Hamler. That’s not the case in 2022. It’s not the same situation as a year ago and you’ve got to go about replacing Patrick with a “committee” approach.

Virgil has a great chance of latching on if the Broncos keep seven guys thanks to his outstanding speed and overall traits, along with special teams abilities.