It's the day after a huge win for Denver Broncos fans, so you want to keep the negativity to a bare minimum. But something that has to be discussed after the team's Week 5 win against the Philadelphia Eagles is the play of one of the most important starters on the defense.
That important starter is none other than third-year player Riley Moss, a second-year starter who was absolutely awesome up until an injury he suffered last year against the Raiders. Moss has been mostly good over the last two seasons for the Broncos, but nobody can ignore the number of big plays he's given up since coming back from the knee injury last year.
Moss had an atrocious game against the Bengals late last season, and has given up a lot of big plays yet again in 2025. Is it time for the Broncos to consider making a change to the starting lineup?
Broncos may need to give top pick Jahdae Barron a few additional looks with Riley Moss struggling
It would be one thing if the Denver Broncos didn't have alternatives in place, but this team literally has five starting-caliber cornerbacks on the roster.
The Broncos used their top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Texas star Jahdae Barron, who has played a minimal role for the team this season, but has only played 26 percent of the team's snaps so far. He's barely even a part-time player at this point.
Barron played both outside corner and inside the slot while he was at Texas, and even in a limited sample, we've seen him make a couple of nice hits and nice plays on the ball for Denver's defense. With Riley Moss giving up an egregious big play against Devonta Smith on 3rd-and-17 as well as another rough penalty in coverage, is it time for the team to make a change?
I don't think the Broncos need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We know confidence is born out of demonstrated ability, or at least that's the philosophy Sean Payton abides by. In other sports, you might be able to sit a guy for a few games and still throw them back out there after they've had some time to clear their head. In football, there's just not that many games.
I'm not sure you can say Riley Moss's struggles are exactly the same as a struggling pitcher in baseball or something, but the Broncos might not be doing the worst thing for the team by calling on another reliever. We've seen Moss giving up big plays to some really good receivers, but the big plays and penalties are becoming rather consistent at this point.
And of course, there have been other big plays negated by offensive penalties.
If I were Sean Payton, I would probably stick with Moss again in the matchup against the New York Jets, and go from there. Garrett Wilson will probably get shadowed by Pat Surtain II in London, which means Riley Moss is going to get a favorable matchup to potentially "get right" this week.
But if the big plays keep coming, the Broncos may need to let him clear his head and give Jahdae Barron or even Kris Abrams-Draine a shot to prove themselves.