Every NFL team carries question marks into training camp, no matter how good your roster is. For the Denver Broncos, coming off of a wildly disappointing 5-12 season, there are more question marks than many other teams.
Specifically, there are individual players who entered training camp very much under the microscope, and they have responded by having really strong camp performances. The Broncos are now less than a week from their first preseason game of 2023 (against the Cardinals) and everyone will be excited to see this roster on display. Which players have delivered strong training camp performances so far that desperately needed to do so?
Let's take a look at the top 5.
5 Denver Broncos players who badly needed a good training camp
1. Courtland Sutton, wide receiver
Maybe a little bit on the low key, Courtland Sutton needed to have a huge training camp for the Denver Broncos in 2023. Not a lot of people were talking about it because there have been plenty of other areas of focus for this particular position group in 2023. But there was a decent amount of pressure on Sutton going into training camp given the fact that the Broncos perhaps listened to trade offers over the course of the offseason but ultimately decided to stay with their group.
Sutton was a Pro Bowl player in 2019 and hasn't been able to return to that level of plays in the years following. In 2020, he suffered a torn ACL early in the season. In 2021 and 2022, the Broncos' offense was horrible in general, but Sutton produced at a Pro Bowl level in 2019 with Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen, and Drew Lock throwing the passes. People have expected him to be "quarterback-proof", as it were.
Sutton has been outstanding thus far in Denver Broncos training camp, but the big plays he's making have been overshadowed by the defense largely playing better than the offense throughout training camp as well as people making a bigger deal about Russell Wilson's struggles early on when the pads went on.
Although Jerry Jeudy was the best offensive player on the team last season, Sutton is, at this point, arguably the most underrated player on the team. A big camp from him leading to a big 2023 season could be one of the biggest developments of the Broncos' offseason.