3 Broncos primed for a major second half after quiet trade deadline

The Denver Broncos only made one move before Tuesday's trade deadline, and it left their offensive unit completely unchanged for their playoff stretch run. Denver elected to address their linebacker group and nothing else.

The Broncos' offense has been the subject of incredible scrutiny over the first half of the season, but it has averaged 28 points over its last three games. Denver faced a gauntlet of defenses to begin the season, but has finally reached a stretch of lesser units.

Denver has just one top-10 defense in their coming five games, including two with the league's worst defense: the Las Vegas Raiders. It's possible that the poor play of upcoming teams, mixed with better recent results, pushed general manager George Paton to keep his group unchanged. Along with this, it is also a clear vote of confidence in their current skill-player grouping.

For what it is worth, the issue with the Broncos' offense hasn't been a lack of talent or depth at any position. Denver goes five deep at wide receiver, has three playable running backs, multiple tight ends that contribute in specific roles, and a solid offensive line that has a few good backups. With the team foregoing making additions to any of these positions, a few Broncos specifically find themselves on the path to a major second-half performance as part of Denver's playoff push.

3 Denver Broncos with major roles after quiet trade deadline

3) TE Evan Engram

Evan Engram has not lived up to his initial hype since joining the Broncos last summer, giving plenty of reason to believe that the Broncos might have looked to the tight end position as a place of need before the deadline. Instead, the Broncos decided to stay with their group, which might have been driven in part by Engram's 33-yard receiving performance on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Denver tends to use all three of its tight ends this year, and the group has totaled 224 receiving yards and four touchdowns (three of them to Nate Adkins), with Engram leading the way in receptions and receiving yards. As the Broncos' offense heats up, he could become a major piece of it.

2) RB JK Dobbins

Dobbins lost his starting role to rookie Jonah Coleman, but just a few weeks later, he was given a vote of confidence from the front office as the Broncos did not bring a new running back into the fold. He is averaging an abysmal 3.2 yards per attempt in games in which he receives 10 or more carries, and his role in the offense remains significant until RJ Harvey returns from the injured reserve, which could be Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the earliest.

Big names such as Tony Pollard and Jonathan Taylor were not moved, but Denver would have landed a rotational running back if they felt like they needed one. Instead, Dobbins gets some pep in his step, as his immediate future in the NFL is no longer in question.

1) WR Pat Bryant III

When Pat Bryant is healthy, he looks the part of a legitimate starting wide receiver in the NFL. Since his debut, Bryant has missed four games this year, two last year, and has left a handful of games early due to injury. If the Broncos brought in a veteran receiving option due to a lack of confidence that Bryant could stay healthy, no one would have thought twice about it.

Instead, he appears to firmly be Denver's third receiver option, and could be tracking to be their second receiver as early as next year if the team decides to move on from veteran Courtland Sutton.

Over his last three games, which start with the Carolina win and date back to their win over the Rams, Bryant is averaging a shade under 50 yards per game and has scored twice. The Broncos could have easily made a call on a player such as Kendrick Bourne of the Arizona Cardinals, but instead decided to roll with Bryant, who now has the chance to cement himself as one of the better receivers in the game down the stretch.

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