The Denver Broncos have one of the better rosters in the NFL but are largely failing at making necessary roster adjustments when needed. One of the absolute keys in the NFL is depth. Teams don’t make it far without it.
Teams that are able to make it to the Super Bowl usually have some good injury luck or great depth. And, as you would imagine, some of the better teams in the NFL in the 2022 season have quality depth at many positions.
The Denver Broncos are in a great place with their franchise. They’ve got the quarterback. They also have a shutdown cornerback and left tackle, and now some edge rushers. Objectively speaking, they are in much better shape than a plethora of teams.
However, I do believe they struggle with one area of the roster, and that has to do with depth and making roster adjustments, especially considering injury. One example of this is the inside linebacker position, which already missed Josey Jewell in Week one. George Paton and the Broncos’ front office decided to carry Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad as the primary depth options behind Josey Jewell, who has dealt with injuries, and Jonas Griffith, who hasn’t started many games.
That depth was exposed last Monday. Alex Singleton was constantly picked on; he missed tackles, was poor against the run, and was an overall liability on the field. If Jewell needs to miss more time, would the team seriously again rely on Singleton, who has proven to not be an NFL-caliber linebacker?
The next example is the wide receiver room, which lost Tim Patrick for the year, and will be without KJ Hamler for week two. I’d also go as far as to say that Hamler likely won’t be 100 percent for any part of the season. He is still dealing with pain as he gets fully back from his serious knee/hip injury in 2021.
Between Patrick and Hamler, those add up to be noticeable losses for the Broncos. So, what then has George Paton done to attempt to cover for those losses? Well, if you count elevating players from the practice squad up, then he’s done the bare minimum. I think in some cases, losses of certain players require doing more than promoting a practice squad player, who is on the squad for a reason.
Another example is the QB2 behind Russell Wilson. Brett Rypien, in my opinion, is not a legitimate backup quarterback in the NFL. He was able to beat out Josh Johnson, a veteran journeyman who was also signed off the street on many occasions to fill in for injury.
Neither Rypien or Johnson have a legitimate case or evidence to serve as a backup QB in the NFL, but alas, those were the two who were vying for the spot. Look at the Buffalo Bills, for example. They signed Mitchell Trubisky to be their backup in 2021, and doubled-down on maintaining a high-quality backup option when they traded for Case Keenum to backup Allen for 2022.
I remember when Bradley Chubb went down at the beginning of last year, the Broncos’ decision was to sign Aaron Patrick, a virtual no-name who was sitting on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. I also think there is an embarrassing amount of depth in the cornerback room.
Both K’Waun Williams and Ronald Darby come with injury concerns, and the primary depth players behind them are a rookie in Damarri Mathis, Michael Ojemudia, who has not looked good this offseason, and Darius Phillips, who was recently cut by the Bengals.
It’s clear that the Denver Broncos are not all-in for 2022, or else they’d be acting with more urgency with their roster.