Broncos GM King Charles III was busy this off-season – despite limited cap space, picks or much trade value he managed to bring in some much needed contributors at key positions that see the Broncos at 8-5 and sitting on top of the AFC West

 

Here we have a look at the draft class so far and the major contributors from FA.

 

Draftees

 

1. Third round pick – CB Tre McMillan

The first pick off the board for the Broncos after the Russel Wilson trade that saw Denver send away their top picks.

Prayers were chanted and rain dances made in the hope this would be the 2^nd coming of Antwan Mullins.

While he seemed a little raw to start, his contribution so far has been fantastic and his development strong. Maybe never going to be as good as the fabled Mullins, its looking like he could still be a Potential Hall of Famer

 

Stats: 20 tackles, 8 interceptions, 1 forced fumble

 

Grade: A

 

2. Fourth round pick – FS Andrew Dawson

Dawson developed strongly out of the gate and was rewarded with significant playing time. However, he has been disappointing so far, getting burned multiple times and his speed being a liability.

This past week saw him dropped in favour of Damarri Mathis at safety and its possible he won’t make it to 2024 on this team.

 

Stats: 16 tackles, 1 interception

 

Grade: D

 

3. Fifth round pick – ROLB Chris Simmons

Purely a depth piece at this point with no playing time. He is only 21 years old though and projected to be a solid and cheap backup going forward

 

Grade: D

 

4. Seventh round pick – CB Jeremiah Phillips

Cut pre-season

 

Grade: F

 

UDFA and Free Agent signings

 

1. Adam Thielen (86 or) – WR

Adam Thielen came to Denver cheap (only 7 million this year) and has more than outperformed his cost.

 

A favourite option of the head coach versus man coverage and press due to the separation he gets – his more refined skills have been an improvement over what Golloday and Patrick were able to provide last season

 

Stats: 44 receptions, 626 yards, 5 tds.

 

Grade: A

 

2. Deatrich Wise Jr (78 ovr) – RE

Picked up from FA mid-way during the season to help provide more solidness to the DL; Wise has only played 3 games and probably too early to gauge his performance so far

 

Stats: 3 tackles, 1 sack (through 3 games)

 

Grade: C (though too early)

 

3. Payton Turner (73 ovr) – RE

A pre-season FA signing – Turner has all the tools to succeed at the NFL level and there was hope he  might have a breakout year.

However, poor performances with no sign of improvement meant he was cut in favour of Wise

Stats: 6 tackles, 1 sack (through 10 games)

 

Grade: D

 

4. Jayon Brown (79 ovr) – MLB

A much needed addition to at ILB this season to partner Baron Browning, Brown has been solid but nothing spectacular.

He does his job well enough and there’s been no complaints.

 

Grade: C

 

Stats: 16 tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble

 

5. Josh Beard (65 ovr) HB

A mid-season pick up from the Falcons practice squad, due to multiple injuries to Williams, Beard has surprised Denver fans with impressive performances from the young rookie.

While the expectation was that he try not to lose games for the Broncos, now there is talk of him taking the starting RB job.

 

Stats: 26 rush attempts, 161 yards rushing. 9 receptions, 99 yards receiving (through 2 games)

 

Grade: B

 

6. Isiah Oliver (76 ovr) CB

 

Primarily played as the CB4 in Dime packages there’s been no complaints but neither has he contributed anything. From a CB not being noticed might be a good thing though.

 

Stats: 4 tackles

 

Grade: C

 

7. K’Lavon Chaisson (76 ovr) LOLB

 

While technically picked up mid-way through last season for a mid round pick (C4) he saw no playing time. The GM preferring to allow him to adjust to the system, first and also, because Chubb was having a career-year at LOLB.

With Chubb moved to DE this season the LOLB spot was free for Chaisson to make his mark on – considering his young age (only 24) and low cost Chaisson is making a strong case to make the position his for the foreseeable future.

The main focus will be on watching whether he can improve in the run defence.

 

Stats: 10 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles

Grade: B