3 Broncos who are in danger of being benched with a bad Week 4

The Denver Broncos could find themselves in a favorable spot with a win in Week 4: heading back to Denver at 2-2 after road wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a 2023 playoff team, and the New York Jets, one of the NFL's best defenses and an offense led by Aaron Rogers. This could force Denver to begin making roster decisions, including benching underachieving players to win more games ahead of a playoff push.

Here are three Broncos in danger of being benched with a poor week four performance.

1) Adam Trautman/Greg Dulcich, TE

The Broncos' tight ends have been nothing short of brutal so far this year. Greg Dulcich has had some horrible drops, and Adam Trautman is still one of the least explosive tight ends in football, which really says something. As Bo Nix grows more and more into this Broncos offense, he will start to look for his tight ends more as a safety valve and a check-down option. However, that would require Broncos tight ends to be productive. If the duo continues to struggle like they have, it would behoove the Broncos to look at current practice squad tight end Donald Parham Jr.

Parham was solid for the Chargers in years past and put up a career-high in both yards and scores last year. He could add a different option to the Broncos offense, and provide a different look from Trautman and Dulcich. For obvious reasons, finding a reliable tight end for Nix makes a ton of sense. If they can't find one from their current options, a tight end might be at the top of the Broncos' wish list heading into the NFL's trading deadline.

2) Kristian Welch, LB

Welch is expected to take over next to Cody Barton at inside linebacker, but seeing as he has already been benched this season, he is on immediate benching watch. Welch lost all his snaps next to Singleton in week three and did not see the field. However, a torn ACL for the Broncos' defensive signal-caller gives Welch new life up the middle.

The Broncos have added veteran depth at inside linebacker to their practice squad with the additions of Zach Cunningham and Kwon Alexander, so a struggle some week from Welch, again, could result in one of the two veterans, if not both, being promoted to the active roster on game days. The two veterans have seen a ton of downs in their careers, and are two of the more experienced linebackers that were available to Denver. It wouldn't be a difficult adjustment for the Broncos to insert one of the two into the starting rotation if Welch is benched again.

3) Javonte Williams, RB

To put it gently, Javonte Williams has been bad through three weeks for the Broncos. In three games, Williams has amassed 52 total rushing yards, and his weekly total has been dropping each game. Williams got his most work in week one, going for 23 yards on eight carries. He totaled 17 yards on 11 carries against the Steelers, and then 12 yards on five carries in Tampa.

Williams' time in Denver could be on a lifeline, especially as Audric Estime is eligible to come off the IR in a few weeks. Wiliams' burst seems to be gone, and he is more prone to being tackled behind the line than he is to break any sort of run down the field. His season-long run is 10 yards, meaning that roughly 20% of his total rushing yards this season came on one run, which puts the rest of his attempts at 42 total yards on 23 attempts.

Williams has been nothing short of brutal and could be on benching watch, or worse if he puts together another pitiful performance in Week 4.