5 mistakes the Denver Broncos made with their final 53-man roster

Denver Broncos roster mistake no. 5: Not upgrading the DL after preseason

We all saw how horrendous the Denver Broncos’ defensive line was throughout the preseason. They couldn’t stop anything run and few of the reserve defensive linemen that actually played in the preseason actually made a positive impression in general. Rookie Matt Henningsen could be considered an exception there, as well as McTelvin Agim in the final preseason game.

So, what did the Denver Broncos do about it? Literally nothing. Actually, what’s crazy is that this team legitimately kept everyone on the defensive line from that atrocious preseason. If the players weren’t brought back on the active roster, they were brought back on the practice squad. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to develop the guys you have in-house, but what did these players show that would be worth bringing them all back?

As of right now, it looks like the Broncos would be in big trouble if one of Dre’Mont Jones or DJ Jones suffers any sort of injury. Those two guys are projected to be the best players on this unit with DeShawn Williams as the third starter. Mike Purcell will be the first one rotating in along with rookies Eyioma Uwazurike and Matt Henningsen.

This is a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Do the Broncos really have the pieces in place on the defensive line to make it through a 17-game season? At this point, I think there’s no question that the team’s defensive line depth is bordering on non-existent. The Broncos didn’t go after anyone on waivers. They haven’t signed any free agents. They aren’t making any trades on the defensive line.

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Perhaps the team will rely more on the edge guys to play significant roles this season with Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory taking the “defensive end” types of duties as the team plays a lot of nickel and dime under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. If the run defense issues rear their ugly head at some point this season, though, we’ll look back on this roster construction on the defensive line as a major blind spot.