The Denver Broncos have a big matchup in Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Broncos' first home game since Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and only their second home game of the young 2024 season.
The fan base is going to be electric as the Broncos return home for their first divisional matchup of the year, and it's going to be a super-charged environment for the team's 2024 rookie class. The Broncos' rookies have already made a huge impact on the team this season, but head coach Sean Payton said that we can expect even more of these guys to get on the field sooner rather than later.
Which rookies could end up making a surprise impact against the Raiders in Week 5?
3 underrated Broncos rookies to watch in Week 5
1. Blake Watson, running back
The Denver Broncos went into the 2024 season with about a hundred running backs available, and they're already down a couple of guys here early in the season.
Rookie Audric Estimé landed on IR after the team's Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with an ankle injury, but he could be back as early as next week vs. the Chargers. Tyler Badie led the team in rushing in the Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but went down wiith a pretty scary injury in Week 4 against the Jets that has him out against the Raiders.
There's no one left to provide the needed depth at the position now except undrafted free agent Blake Watson, who has been making progress behind the scenes as of late.
“He gets a lot of work obviously against the defense. You go back and you look at the preseason—we did this the other night. We went and looked at every one of his touches in the preseason, even in the joint practice. I’d say he’s a decisive runner, deceptively powerful after contact. ball security is good. We’ll see where his role is relative to this game.”
- Broncos HC Sean Payton (via team PR)
It sounds like there's potential we could see Watson make his debut against the Raiders in Week 5.
2. Devaughn Vele, wide receiver
We saw Devaughn Vele absolutely burst onto the scene this offseason while very few people felt like he could even make the Broncos' roster. The 26-year-old rookie had eight receptions in Week 1 against the Seahawks, but suffered an injury to his ribs and hasn't been on the field since then.
The Broncos seemingly cut Tim Patrick in favor of keeping Devaughn Vele, so his impact is going to need to be felt sooner rather than later as Patrick is making plays in Detroit and the Broncos are desperately needing someone to come and make some plays at wide receiver.
And according to Sean Payton, we'll see him on the field again "sooner than later".
3. Levelle Bailey, linebacker
The Denver Broncos have been snake-bitten at the linebacker position in 2024, there's no question about it.
They lost Drew Sanders in the offseason to an Achilles injury. They lost Jonas Griffith at the end of the preseason to a torn ACL. They just lost Alex Singleton to a torn ACL. Although the linebacker didn't skip a beat against the New York Jets, the special teams needs a big boost with other guys having to step up defensively, and I think we could see Levelle Bailey get the job done.
Bailey played in his first NFL game last week against the Jets and if the Broncos activate him again, he could play a key role on special teams vs. the Raiders.