The Denver Broncos’ final 90-man training camp roster isn’t yet set, but it’s close. With the draft now come and gone, and with the vast majority of free agency in the books, we now have a fairly good sense of who will be suiting up for the Broncos when practices kick off this summer.
The better question is: Who’ll be suiting up for Denver on September 8, when the the Broncos host the Panthers to open up the 2016 season?
We know Chris Harris and Aqib Talib will be starting at cornerback, and we know Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders will be starting at wideout, but who’ll be starting at inside linebacker and tight end? Who will be the first man off the bench when C.J. Anderson needs a rest?
Who will be quarterback?
Those are the questions that will make this training camp and preseason exceptionally fun to watch. And with that in mind, here are the Denver Broncos’ five most-important offseason position battles:
5. Guard
Barring an injury or a surprising turn of events, Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson will be starting at left and right tackle, respectively, come Week 1, and Matt Paradis is expected to retain his starting center job. The guard positions, though, are still a little hazy.
You’d expect Max Garcia to slot into one of the empty spots, but who’ll fill the other one?
A few weeks ago, the rumor was that Ty Sambrailo was going to slide inside from his tackle position, but with the drafting of Connor McGovern, a natural guard, he may no longer need to. Still, it can’t feel great to have your former second-round selection (and starting left tackle) entering his sophomore season as a backup. Will Kubiak and Elway try to force-feed him into the rotation?
Either way, it’s a good problem to have. As we saw last season, an offensive line is nothing without depth. At some point or another, those guys are going to go down, and you need to have someone who can step up. Michael Schofield wasn’t up for the challenge last year; maybe Sambrailo will be this time around.
4. Inside Linebacker
Todd Davis, who filled in for Trevathan and Marshall at times last season, and third-year linebacker Corey Nelson seemed to be next in line for the job, but most expected Elway to target another option in the draft. Instead, he passed on guys like Scooby Wright and opted for Frank Shannon, an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma.
Off stats alone, Shannon may have been a draftable prospect, but thanks to a year-long suspension for a Title IX sexual misconduct investigation, teams were understandably scared off. If he can reach his on-field potential, though, Shannon has the ability to compete for a starting job, let alone a roster spot.
Between the three, the Broncos should be fine, especially considering the level of talent around them.
3. No. 3 Wideout
I call this the Cody Latimer question, because if you go off hype, expectation and draft selection, he should clearly be the Broncos’ No. 3 option at wideout. In reality, though, he’s quickly getting outpaced by a couple of undrafted free agents.
Latimer is now entering his third season in the NFL, and he only has eight more career receptions than Peyton Manning‘s favorite practice-squad player, Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor, who hasn’t played a single snap for the Denver Broncos.
That’s not good.
With just a $508,600 dead-cap hit, there’s a solid chance the Broncos just cut ties with Latimer if he can’t prove himself this offseason.
And if we’re being honest, it’s looking like a long shot at this point. Both Bennie Fowler and Jordan Norwood actually contributed to a Super Bowl winning team last season, and they’ve showed significantly more upside and potential than Latimer. Throw in Taylor, who Manning profusely praised last season, and that might be three wideouts Latimer will have to overcome on the depth chart.
Denver will likely end up using fewer three-wide-receiver sets this season than in years past, but that third wideout will still play a critical role in the Broncos offense. At this point, it’s up for grabs.
2. No. 2 Running Back
When Elway re-signed Ronnie Hillman, it seemed like he was comfortable just putting the band back together, but the selection of Devontae Booker has definitely thrown a wrinkle into the mix.
Booker is a quality back, if not a starting-quality back, and he’ll make a strong push for snaps as a rookie. The question we’re all asking ourselves, though, is: Does he have what it takes to finally push Hillman to the curve?
Now, it’s not as if Hillman’s not a good running back. He’s okay. But he’s definitely not special. And maybe he’ll be better for the Broncos in more of a secondary role, but he’s going to have to prove it. And he has a lot of competition.
Between Booker, Juwan Thompson and Kapri Bibbs, the Denver Broncos are looking deep at running back, and it’s about time that some of these guys put up or shut up.
Personally, I think this is going to be the most interesting position battle to watch this offseason. Assuming Anderson’s the starter (and that might not be a safe assumption), there’s going to be four guys fighting tooth and nail for that second spot, and it could be the difference between between a job and the getting cut.
1. Quarterback
Well, duh.
In the end, everything comes down to the quarterback, and the Broncos may have the most interesting quarterback situation in the NFL.
It’s not often that the Super Bowl champion loses their starting quarterback and his heir apparent in the span of a week, but that’s the hand the Broncos were dealt, and, whether you like it or not, they turned it into Mark Sanchez and Paxton Lynch — oh, and Trevor Siemian.
And while there’s more clarity today than there was a week ago at this time, there’s still a lot to figure out. Mainly, who’s going to start at quarterback?
The easy answer is Sanchez, but the fun answer is Lynch, and the contrarian answer is Siemian. The right answer is that it’ll be the best, most-prepared quarterback on the roster, and while Sanchez is the heavy favorite, he’s definitely not a lock.
The only thing I can say for certain is that it will be exciting.