Sean Payton decided not to play most starters in the second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. While fans likely were disappointed in not seeing the starters play, this provided an excellent opportunity for us to see the depth of the roster and what they bring to the table.
The big thing I learned from this game is that the Denver Broncos were extremely smart in hiring Sean Payton (loss of draft picks be damned). Their roster depth from when he was hired compared to what we see on the field
this season is a night-and-day difference.
Honestly, I’m impressed with how complete this organization looks. The front office, coaching, and players are all doing an impressive job.
Offense
Let’s start off by giving props to Davis Webb for calling a superb game. I thought the offense in both halves was set up to succeed with sound calls that gave our players opportunities to execute.
I liked what the team was doing on 3rd down. There was a good balance of run and pass. The Cardinal defense was kept on its heels throughout the game.
Quarterbacks
I can’t give Jarrett Stidham enough props for his play so far this preseason. He’s shown an impressive amount of growth in this offense compared to what we’ve seen from him in the past two years. He’s dialed in on this offense and is playing at a high level. He’s looking like an excellent backup quarterback (arguably the perfect guy for the Sean Payton offense). For the half he played, he was 16 of 23 for 240 yards and 2 TDs with a rating of 132.5.
I liked seeing him make the smart move, pulling up before he crossed the line of scrimmage to hit a 15-yard pass to convert a 3rd and long. On another 3rd down play he called back a receiver off a route that ended up getting the conversion on a pass interference call (which would have been caught had the defender not climbed the back of the receiver before the ball got there).
But honestly, the touchdown passes were just stellar. Both of them were delivered with touch and accuracy that would make Peyton Manning proud.
Sam Ehlinger put in some good work as well in the 2nd half. He was 14 of 16 for 162 yards. Ehlinger isn’t pushing for Stidham’s job, but the rookie is showing good skills to the coaches. He’s likely a practice squad player for the team this year. I definitely see potential in him and can see why the team drafted him.
Line
The offensive line was much more effective this week than in their first preseason game. We were pushing the defense around much of the time up front, which is what you want to see from the big uglies up front.
The loss of Nick Gargiulo is an absolute shame. Gargiulo had been impressing at this training camp and surely had a spot on the roster locked up. I’ll be cheering for his recovery, and hopefully we’ll get to see more of him mauling fools on the gridiron next season.
Running Backs
R.J. Harvey was one of the players who saw only a handful of snaps; he made them count. His 8-yard touchdown run showed off his mix of speed and power to cap off the first drive for the Broncos.
Jaleel McLaughlin isn’t going away without a serious fight. He only had 3 rushes, but gained 35 yards on one play. His upside is big gains like that due to his rare mix of speed and quickness. The thing I’ve been pining for is seeing more of him catching passes, but that doesn’t seem to be part of the plan for him.
Tyler Badie wasn’t in terribly long either and only had an average of 3.5 yards per carry, but he did get 2 passes for 16 yards, showing he’s a capable receiver out of the backfield.
Audric Estime may be one of the odd men out this year. 2.2 yards per carry on 9 rushes just doesn’t move the needle. This was the same kind of production we were seeing from him toward the end of last season.
Receivers
Let’s give Troy Franklin a big Mile High Salute. This guy is absolutely killing it, and I absolutely love to see it. He had two touchdown catches on the day that showed off his speed, improved hands, and route-running ability.
In case you wondered why the Broncos went out and signed Evan Engram, we got an answer on the first drive of the game. He made a huge play out of the gates as he took the first pass of the game for 58 yards. He was still in for many plays after that, but one catch was all the Broncos needed to see from him.
Rookie Pat Bryant really wowed me with his consistent play. He had 7 catches for 70 yards in the game. He’s got great hands, showed the ability to keep the catch even when getting drilled as he makes the catch, and runs such smooth routes.
Caleb Lohner had an absolute drag of a game. He only had 1 catch for 4 yards, but more importantly, he couldn’t help but get penalties right and left. He had a holding, illegal shift, and false start credited to him. He’s not going to be able to be trusted on the field if he’s going to constantly shoot his team in the foot like that.
I really enjoyed seeing Michael Bandy put in such good work on the field in this game. He had 3 catches for 55 yards and is trying hard to make the choices tough on the coaching staff when they have to pick the wide receivers to keep on the roster.
I honestly felt terrible for Elijah Jones. He missed such a big opportunity on an easy touchdown because of poor ball-carrying fundamentals. Going into traffic, you have to have three points of contact and keep your grip firm on the ball. Instead, his sure TD turned into a fumble and recovery by the defense.
Defense
The defense looked sound once again this week. They gave up one touchdown drive, but outside of that really gave the Cardinals hell. I thought the coverage on the back end was mostly excellent. I also thought the defense did a great job applying pressure on the Cardinal quarterbacks.
Front 7
Jonah Elliss could start for a few NFL teams if I’m being honest. He’s a smart player and a capable pass rusher from the outside. He kicked off his play early with a huge TFL. He had a sack, 2 tackles, 1 TFL, and 1 quarterback hit.
Rookie Jordan Turner showed the goods as well in this game with 5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, and 3 quarterback hits. It is so good to see the Broncos developing some promising players at inside linebacker.
Secondary
I’m honestly pretty worried if we lose a starting safety this season. Devon Key showed his passive style of coverage on two passes caught in front of him. He’s got to learn to not only be close to the receiver, but also impact the play.
Damarri Mathis had me shaking my head on an easy throw for a TD that was on him as he let his guy get past him too easily. He was caught flat-footed for just a split second too long, which isn’t the time you can afford inside the red zone.
Special Teams
If Courtney Jackson wants to make it as a returner in this league, he’s got to learn to stick his foot in the ground and get upfield. On at least 3 returns, he left yards on the field trying to juke laterally. That may have worked at the college level, but in the NFL, he’s just giving up yards.
Jeremy Crawshaw had a lot more success this week with a punting average of 54.5 yards. The Broncos will need him to stay consistent as the season wears on.
Final Thoughts
That was about as fun a preseason game as I could ask for outside of seeing a player go down with an injury. This coaching staff has the team dialed in and grinding to get better. These are just preseason games and don’t mean much, but there’s a crispness to the operations for the Broncos so far this season that I like to see.
I think the picture is getting much clearer for the roster decisions that are out there, which was probably the best takeaway from getting to see so much time from the backups playing in this game.
