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3 Broncos players who didn’t do enough to make the roster vs. Bills

By Sayre Bedinger

Aug 20, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Denver Broncos running back JaQuan Hardy (41) tries to break free from Buffalo Bills linebacker Andre Smith (9) in the third quarter of a pre-season game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 20, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Denver Broncos running back JaQuan Hardy (41) tries to break free from Buffalo Bills linebacker Andre Smith (9) in the third quarter of a pre-season game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports /
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Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos, Joe Schobert – Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /

Broncos players not making the case for the final 53: Joe Schobert, LB

Let’s be fair to Joe Schobert here for a moment. This guy was not on an NFL roster just over a week ago and with the Broncos losing Jonas Griffith to injury, he’s only had a handful of days to get up to speed. The Broncos brought in Schobert as some competition along with Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad to hold down the fort while Griffith recovers from a dislocated elbow.

Schobert playing the way he did against the Buffalo Bills from that standpoint is at least somewhat understandable. Unfortunately, his performance against the Bills did absolutely nothing to inspire any sort of confidence that he could be a viable option during the regular season if the Broncos had to call his number.

Early on last week, we had heard that Schobert was immediately taking some reps next to Josey Jewell with the first-team offense, but Cody Roark of Mile High Sports and Locked on Broncos noted that after that first day, Schobert was rotating in mainly with the second and third defense.

Schobert, along with the majority of linebackers that played in this game from the Broncos, looked really bad. He wasn’t attacking the line of scrimmage aggressively. He was getting washed out of plays at the second level. He wasn’t coming off blocks. He finished his Broncos preseason debut with just one solo tackle.

At this point, if you’re general manager George Paton, you’ve really got to be hopeful of some team making another off-ball linebacker available that you might be able to poach. I’m sure Schobert will get another chance to prove his worth out there in the third and final preseason game, but right now all we have to go off of is this Buffalo performance which was shockingly bad.

For a guy that has averaged 120-something tackles a year for the last five years, a former Pro Bowl player, and someone who has recently signed a rather big-money contract, I expected a lot more. Schobert definitely didn’t do enough in this game — over 30 snaps — to prove himself worthy of a regular season roster spot for the Broncos.

Just to make sure they have the depth, we could see the Broncos cut him from the 90-man roster and keep him as a veteran inclusion on the practice squad, but as of right now, that’s looking like the best-case scenario for Schobert based on how he played against the Bills.

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