Denver Broncos 53-man roster prediction post-2023 NFL Draft
The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books. Free agency is mostly in the rearview. Where do we see the Denver Broncos' roster as of right now? Heading into the meat of the offseason program, where the Broncos will begin "Phase 2" at some point in the near future, projecting the roster is bordering on a futile exercise, but it's worth taking a look at anyway considering most of the major moves are done.
There are only 53 spots available and the Broncos have a pretty full roster at this point in time. There are certainly going to be tweaks made between now and the start of the regular season, but where would we project things if the season started today? Let's jump right to it.
Denver Broncos post-NFL Draft 53-man roster prediction
Specialists: 3 - 3/53
- Brandon McManus, K
- Riley Dixon, P
- Mitchell Fraboni, LS
Barring any additional moves made, it looks like the Broncos are content with these specialists entering the offseason program. They signed Riley Dixon in free agency, and once again did not bring in any competition for Brandon McManus, which seems like an odd decision after a down year. Perhaps they believe they have the players in these slots and simply needed the right coaches in Ben Kotwica and Mike Westhoff.
Quarterbacks: 2 - 5/53
- Russell Wilson
- Jarrett Stidham
The Broncos have their QB duo in Russell Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. The question now becomes -- does Jarrett Guarantano make it as the third QB? Or will it be someone else? Will Brett Rypien (still a free agent) be brought back into the fold?
I personally would like the Broncos to keep three quarterbacks given what we've seen go down in Denver and elsewhere in the league throughout the year, and an additional fourth QB on the practice squad, but we'll see what Sean Payton wants.
As far as the top end of this position group, the focus will be on Russell Wilson bouncing back as well as some close monitoring of Jarrett Stidham, a pickup in free agency that is not to be taken lightly. It seems like Sean Payton really likes him a lot.