The Denver Broncos already suffered one pretty significant injury to their defensive line before Week 1, with Malcolm Roach going down in practice. Now, they've suffered another injury worth monitoring as the week goes along with star John Franklin-Myers popping up on the report on Wednesday with a knee injury.
For a defense that wants to bring waves of pass rush, rotate guys, and keep players fresh, this isn't great news. Thankfully, the Broncos did keep seven defensive linemen on their 53-man roster to open the year, and for the short-term, they can lean on those guys to help.
But is there a free agent out there who might be worth giving a call with two key guys already dealing with stuff here early on in the season? As much work as they'd have to do on the personal side of things, former Raiders big-ticket free agent signing Christian Wilkins could be an interesting name to consider at this point.
Broncos might need to consider Christian Wilkins for defensive line
The fact that he's still unemployed is extremely telling, but it also only takes one team to bring him back into the league. Although there are rumors out there about why Wilkins was cut by Pete Carroll and the Raiders, nothing has been officially reported and it would be interesting to see if he could come in and help a unit struggling with some early injuries.
Sean Payton said this past offseason that Zach Allen played too much last season when he logged 964 snaps in 16 games played. He played 46 snaps in Week 1, which would be about eight percent less than he played last year if extrapolated over a 16-game stretch.
The Broncos are already going to be without Roach for the next three weeks at least. We don't know if Franklin-Myers is even going to miss time at all, but the Roach injury might be enough to consider the risk of bringing in a veteran like Wilkins.
And at this point, the Broncos might even be able to bring him in with no real strings attached. Is he at the point where he would consider signing on as a veteran practice squad addition before signing to the 53-man roster? Maybe.
No matter what they do, the Broncos may soon need to consider doing something along the defensive line. They've got depth there, but how quickly did they want to throw a young player like Sai'vion Jones into the lion's den?
It might be the perfect time for the Broncos to consider veteran options, even someone like Wilkins who may require some additional background work beforehand.