5 safeties Broncos should consider adding to replenish weakening position
- Practice squads of Ravens, Chargers should be looked at
- Former first-round pick could be worth a shot
The Denver Broncos entered training camp this summer with a safety position that looked like it could be one of the stronger groups on the roster. Now, just two weeks into the regular season, it is looking like a massive problem.
The team has already lost Caden Sterns for the year after P.J. Locke started on injured reserve. Kareem Jackson is older and slower and was recently ejected for an egregious hit against Logan Thomas of the Washington Commanders.
Justin Simmons, Delarrin Turner-Yell and JL Skinner are the only other safeties on the roster. Skinner was a healthy scratch in Week 2 and deemed not ready to see a ton of snaps by most, but now it appears that Simmons could be dealing with something as well.
The Broncos could soon have a gaping hole at the safety position that must be addressed. There won't be many options at this stage of the game and for a team that is likely going to need as much as it can get to rebuild properly, you won't hear me advocating for many trades to be made at this point.
But, with teams around the league now allowed to carry 16 players on their practice squads, there could be options, at least to fill in as depth for a few games. The Broncos are a team that likes to go hunting off of other teams' practice squads. Last year, they took Tyler Badie from the Baltimore Ravens and earlier this week, the team nabbed pass-rusher Ronnie Perkins off the New England Patriots' practice squad.
The Broncos have Devon Key on their practice squad currently but better, more experienced help could be necessary.
The team should think about possibly bringing in one of these players, most of whom would be poached from an NFL team's practice squad.
Ronnie Harrison, Indianapolis Colts
Ronnie Harrison was a third-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 and he has played in 67 career games and has over 200 career tackles. He has played for the Jaguars and then had a pretty solid stint with the Cleveland Browns.
He can be a physical, hard hitter but has the ability to play the ball as well. He is currently on the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts and the Broncos could bring him aboard to the active roster, as they could do with any player on this list, at least until they have their full stable back.
Harrison is still just 26 years old and he played in 16 games for the Browns last season. The Colts just brought him aboard in mid-August, so they could still be trying to work him in, but the Broncos could interrupt that process and give him a shot.