The preseason is finally in the books after the Denver Broncos win against the New Orleans Saints. Going 3-0 in the preseason undoubtedly feels great, but more than anything, it just highlights the difficult decisions upcoming for Broncos general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton.
The Broncos now have to get from 91 players (one with an international exemption) down to 53 by Tuesday afternoon, and that process isn't going to be easy. While this team has great clarity in the starting lineups on both sides of the ball, there are fascinating roster battles that have taken place over the last handful of months.
Difficult decisions will be made, and we're glad we don't have to be the ones to make them. But if we had to predict how things might go, especially now with the Devaughn Vele trade, how will the Broncos assemble their 53-man roster?
Broncos 53-man roster prediction after the preseasaon
Quarterback: 2 (2/53)
- Bo Nix
- Jarrett Stidham
It might be tougher than the Broncos hoped to cut and still somehow keep Sam Ehlinger as their 3rd quarterback. Ehlinger looked pretty good throughout the course of the preseason, so teams might have interest there.
In that case, would the Broncos entertain the idea of trading Ehlinger and bringing someone else onto the practice squad as their third guy? Any number of outcomes here would not be surprising. The Broncos could keep Ehlinger as the 3rd QB. They could trade him. They could cut him and try to bring him back onto the practice squad.
The most surprising outcome of all would be Ehlinger not on this team in some way, so I'm expecting him back one way or another.
Running back: 4 (6/53)
- JK Dobbins
- RJ Harvey
- Tyler Badie
- Audric Estimé
Mysteriously, we did not see JK Dobbins after the first preseason game. The Broncos are expected to keep four running backs at this point, and anything other than the guys listed here would be a bit of a shocker.
The one player whose situation just feels a little "off" is Jaleel McLaughlin's. McLaughlin and his wife welcomed a brand-new baby to the world this past week, but he didn't play in the final preseason game. Tyler Badie and Blake Watson were the first two guys up.
We could see McLaughlin moved and Watson taking his spot if the Broncos buy the long-term vision more with Watson, but as a Sean Payton favorite, McLaughlin is going to be tough to beat. The headline here will be whatever the Broncos do with Audric Estimé. The hope is that if he's not going to be on the team, he will be traded, obviously, but that's not a guarantee.
This is a bit of personal, "what I would do" mixed in with what I think would happen. Estimé was a 5th-round pick last year, and McLaughlin is a restricted free agent after this year. Tyler Badie has proven more value as a return man, receiver, and pass protector. Nobody else can run between the tackles like Estimé on this team except Dobbins, who we haven't hardly seen at all this preseason.
Wide Receivers: 5 (11/53)
- Courtland Sutton
- Marvin Mims
- Troy Franklin
- Pat Bryant
- Trent Sherfield
The trade of Devaughn Vele cleared some things up for the Broncos here. Sean Payton only typically uses five receivers on his gameday roster, so this is the group we would expect to see dressing weekly for the Broncos.
With that said, is it still possible they could keep six receivers? Absolutely, but who that 6th receiver is at this point is a mystery. It could be AT Perry, who is finally on the way back from injuries. It could be Joaquin Davis, who has impressed in the offseason program. It could be someone completely outside the organization right now.
I would be slightly surprised to see six receivers on the 53-man roster after Vele was sent to the Saints for draft picks.
Tight Ends: 4 (15/53)
- Evan Engram
- Adam Trautman
- Nate Adkins
- Lucas Krull
This is another difficult one to project right now because Nate Adkins just had a procedure on his ankle. He's only expected to miss a week or two to start the season, however, so he won't be heading to short-term IR.
Lucas Krull has come on recently for the team. I still believe we'll see the Broncos pursue depth upgrades here, but they can't cut the guys they already have until they know depth is coming. The toughest move here is going to be cutting Caleb Lohner, a 7th-round lottery ticket and former basketball player who has looked a bit lost out there at times this preseason.
He might be at risk to be claimed, but that's a tough decision the team might have to make.
Offensive Line: 9 (24/53)
- Garett Bolles
- Ben Powers
- Luke Wattenberg
- Quinn Meinerz
- Mike McGlinchey
- Alex Palczewski
- Matt Peart
- Alex Forsyth
- Frank Crum
This could have been 10 players if it weren't for a brutal injury to Nick Gargiulo in the second preseason game. He was tracking to be one of the team's backups on the interior. We've seen plenty of cross-training for all the reserves on this unit, except maybe for Alex Forsyth (center).
Alex Palczewski and Matt Peart have both played tackle and guard while Frank Crum has played both right and left tackle. The Broncos have a couple of developmental pieces here they obviously like so we'll see which guys they stick with after the preseason.
Defensive Line: 6 (30/53)
- Zach Allen
- DJ Jones
- John Franklin-Myers
- Malcolm Roach
- Jordan Jackson
- Sai'vion Jones
This feels like a pretty straightforward position group, save for maybe the spot currently occupied by Jordan Jackson. The Broncos clearly had an offseason competition going for that 6th defensive line spot with Jackson, Eyioma Uwazurike, and Jordan Miller. At this point, the smart prediction might be just to roll with the guy who played the most last year, which was Jackson.
With that in mind, the team obviously likes Uwazurike and Miller, so neither guy would be a shocker to make it over Jackson.
Edge Rushers: 5 (35/53)
- Nik Bonitto
- Jonathon Cooper
- Jonah Elliss
- Dondrea Tillman
- Que Robinson
This is a position group that feels more than set in stone. The Broncos have likely known this would be the group of five guys they'd be taking into the regular season the moment they drafted Que Robinson.
This is not only a solidified group of pass rushers, but it's one of the best in the NFL, too.
Linebackers: 4 (39/53)
- Dre Greenlaw
- Alex Singleton
- Justin Strnad
- Levelle Bailey
If there's another guy to keep at this position group right now, it might be undrafted rookie Karene Reid. Reid has been all over the field making plays, and he's had a knack for being around the ball whenever he's on the field. You'd like to think the Broncos could sneak him to the practice squad, but they gave him a hefty guarantee after the draft, so you never know what other teams liked him as well.
Either way, this group of four seems to be rather solidified and strong heading into the year. The Broncos need their top guys to stay healthy, however.
Cornerbacks: 5 (44/53)
- Pat Surtain II
- Riley Moss
- Ja'Quan McMillian
- Jahdae Barron
- Kris Abrams-Draine
The big cut here would be former fourth-round pick Damarri Mathis. The Broncos would save about $3.4 million by cutting or trading Mathis before the start of the season. While he's been solid depth up to this point, if they can get something for him now, it wouldn't be a bad idea to move on and save the roster space.
Safeties: 5 (49/53)
- Talanoa Hufanga
- Brandon Jones
- PJ Locke
- Devon Key
- JL Skinner
There would be no major surprises here, but the Broncos would be cutting a couple of special teams players in Delarrin Turner-Yell (who is also a former 5th-round pick) and free agent pickup Sam Franklin Jr.
Neither of those guys feels like a non-negotiable part of the roster right now and the Broncos should be able to sneak both onto the practice squad if they really want them back.
Specialists: 3 (52/53)
- Wil Lutz
- Jeremy Crawshaw
- Mitchell Fraboni
There will be no surprises here, however you'll note that at this point, we're at 52/53 roster spots filled. That could be filled a number of different ways. We talked about the possibility of keeping Ehlinger, possibly another wide receiver, or even sticking with Caleb Lohner as a developmental project and not subjecting him to waivers.
Another player who just joined the roster is Adam Prentice, a fullback and special teams guy, who has a chance to be a veteran addition to the practice squad and shuffled up the first few weeks.
The Broncos could also look to someone from the outside to fill the gap(s) wherever they see fit. The tight end position probably needs an upgrade in the depth department, and we heard Sean Payton already talking about the team monitoring "the wire" at that position.