5 players skyrocketing up Broncos depth chart after first preseason game
- Young DL stepping up
- Rookie RB deserves more chances
- Written off WR making a comeback?
The Denver Broncos lost their first preseason game of 2023 in what ended up being a pretty exciting finish with the Arizona Cardinals. A little back and forth in the fourth quarter ultimately led to a game-winning drive for the Cardinals' 3rd offense, including a two-point conversion to win by one. But obviously, the preseason isn't necessarily about winning and losing (although you'd ideally still like to win) but about evaluating players and giving guys the opportunity to jockey for roster positioning.
And we saw plenty of that in this game, although to be honest, finding standout players or players who actually made some waves in this game actually required a bit of digging and maybe even a second watch of the game itself.
Which players can we say are "skyrocketing" or maybe just rising up the Denver Broncos depth chart right now? Let's look at five names.
5 Denver Broncos players rising up depth chart after first preseason game
1. Matt Henningsen, defensive line
The Denver Broncos' defensive line is a major question mark at this point with Mike Purcell still on the NFI (non-football injury) list, and a player who would be a first-year starter -- Jonathan Harris -- penciled into the starting lineup on the team's depth chart.
Then, against the Arizona Cardinals, starter DJ Jones had to leave the game with a concussion. A questionable area of the team is already being significantly tested but that presents an opportunity for young guys to step up. Second-year player Matt Henningsen got an extensive look in this game and was highly productive, racking up 3 total tackles, a QB hit, and 0.5 sacks.
Henningsen was noticably quick knifing through the line of scrimmage on a variety of occasions, including on the final two-point conversion from the Cardinals in which he did a great job bursting through the line of scrimmage, but the Cardinals were able to avoid him and push the back into the end zone anyway.
Henningsen might deserve a look with the top defense after what we saw from him on Friday night.