The Denver Broncos are 2-1 entering the month of October, and considering how brutal the schedule looked when it initially released, that's a great spot to be in.
Even with the team coming from behind to win their last two games, not everyone on the roster has been pulling their weight.
In fact, some players have been downright disappointing so far. The good news is, they have a chance to bounce back in October, with a Week 4 matchup against the 49ers on deck. Which players have been the most disappointing for the Broncos so far this season?
5 Broncos players who have been disappointing early in 2026
5. Jahdae Barron, cornerback
To be fair to Jahdae Barron, he played his best game (and most extensive action) in the final game of September. So hopefully, he's already on the upswing.
But his first two games were extremely disappointing.
Barron only played a total of six snaps defensively in the first two games. There was even some talk that the Broncos would draft someone else if they could do it all over again and have a mulligan on the 20th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
For a first-round pick at a non-quarterback position to be a non-factor in his second NFL season is a huge red flag. The Broncos bypassed other areas of need to take Barron, and even though they have a logjam at cornerback, they have to find ways to get him on the field. Against the Los Angeles Rams, they did, and he came through with some nice plays.
Even with that in mind, the big-picture outlook with Barron is concerning.
4. Ben Powers, left guard
For the past two years, the only form of positive feedback the Broncos have gotten from the national media is that they have a good offensive line. One of the best in the NFL, even.
The only problem with that assessment is that fans of the team who have watched every single snap were pretty much all thinking the same thing: I'm not seeing it.
If the Broncos' offensive line is so great, why couldn't they run the ball after JK Dobbins went down with an injury last season?
Not that the offensive line is bad, but it's very possible that the NFL media world overrated them. And one of the players who is exposing the offensive line a little bit early on this season is Ben Powers at left guard.
The Broncos asked Powers to take a pay cut this season, and we're seeing why they asked him to do that with the way he's playing. Not that Pro Football Focus is the end-all when it comes to player evaluation, but in the case of Ben Powers, their grades offer some unfortunate confirmation for what we've been seeing on the field.
PFF has given Powers a run-blocking grade of 48.1 and a pass-blocking grade of 48.0. Those numbers rank 63rd and 57th among 73 qualifying guards in the league right now.
3. JK Dobbins, running back
The Broncos gave veteran running back JK Dobbins a 2-year deal worth $16 million to come back to the team this offseason, forsaking the opportunity to go after other free agents like Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne.
And there's obviously no guarantee that either of those players would have come to Denver, but that's the class of free agents Dobbins was part of. He is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry so far this season, he has 0 broken tackles, and he ranks 26th in the NFL with just 67 yards after contact.
Dobbins has played in all three games so far, though he exited the Jaguars game early with cramping. But he's vowed to play all 17 games this season. The question at this point is whether or not his explosiveness is going to return.
One of the things that made Dobbins so special in the 2025 season for the Broncos is his explosiveness. He was in the top 5 of every major rushing category at the time of his injury, but the way he's running so far in 2026, he's going to get replaced by rookie Jonah Coleman before the season is over.
2. Jonah Elliss, outside linebacker
The loss of Jonathon Cooper didn't feel like it was going to be as detrimental to the Denver Broncos' defensive front as it has been.
The Broncos have drafted players like Jonah Elliss and Que Robinson in recent years, and it really felt like those two guys were going to break out at exactly the right time for this defense.
In the case of Elliss, a 3rd-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, that simply hasn't happened. Through the first three games of the season, Elliss has 7 total tackles, 1 QB hit, 0 sacks, and 0 tackles for loss. He was getting absolutely owned by Rams tight ends on Sunday night, which was rather alarming to see.
The Broncos simply need more out of Elliss, who they were considering moving to inside linebacker at one point this offseason. They didn't end up making that move because they felt Elliss was too good off the edge to move.
Now, the team is either begging for Elliss to prove them right, or they'll be hoping Jonathon Cooper can return from the Commissioner's Exempt List ASAP.
1. Alex Singleton, linebacker
It's not only that Alex Singleton has been disappointing for the Denver Broncos this season, but that the team decided to forsake every other path to upgrading the inside linebacker position in order to keep him around.
Singleton leads the team in missed tackles this season, he's been a liability in coverage, and he's not making any high-impact plays for the defense. Even though Singleton is lauded for being a coach on the field, getting everyone lined up and in the right place, he ironically is rarely in position to make impact plays.
So far this season, he not only leads the team in missed tackles, but Singleton also doesn't have a single tackle for loss. He's not affecting the quarterback when he blitzes. He's also had multiple major in-game penalties that he's been fined a lot of money for, and is closing in on a possible suspension from the league if he has many more infractions in the same category.
Singleton has to play better for the Broncos, or teams will continue circling him and targeting him as the weak link on the defense.
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