Well, it wasn’t pretty, but the Broncos perfected winning ugly last season, and they are continuing that this season with a 23-17 comeback victory over their divisional rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers. The struggles on offense continued throughout this one, but they did show some life late while the Broncos’ defense dominated for the most part, outside of a handful of rather bad plays. It wasn’t a perfect game by the Broncos by any means, but at the end of the day, they got the win and improved
to 3-2 on the year.
Still, there are some things the Broncos need to improve on, and improve on quickly, if they want to continue having success this season.
Stock up and stock down is a weekly series where I go through the Denver Broncos’ 53-man roster and tell you which Broncos players’ stock is going up, down, or remains unchanged. After an ugly win vs. the Chargers on Sunday, we have a good mix of stock-ups and stock-downs today.
Quarterback
Bo Nix – Stock down: His early-season struggles continued on Sunday. He looked unconfident, lost, and simply did not play well. We have seen Nix go through stretches like this, but he eventually bounces back and improves as the season goes on. Still, this might be one of his worst stretches. I have faith that he will bounce back, because we have seen Nix play MUCH better than this, but it did not look good on Sunday vs. a banged-up 0-4 Chargers team.
Next up, a difficult Seattle Seahawks defense on a short week.
Jarrett Stidham – Unchanged: Veteran backup quarterback.
Sam Ehlinger – Unchanged: Emergency third-string quarterback.
Running Back
JK Dobbins – Stock up slightly: I am going slightly because, for most of this game, he was not very good. Lacked explosiveness and, at most, was getting three yards and a cloud of dust. He had just 27 yards through 3 quarters on Sunday, but had 41 yards on 6 carries in the 4th quarter when the Broncos went on a 13-0 run.
That fourth quarter was the first time we saw 2025 JK Dobbins, and the Broncos and this offense need to see that version of Dobbins a lot more moving forward.
RJ Harvey – Stock down: After seeing heavy usage the last few games, we barely saw the Broncos’ explosive runner on Sunday. He played just 37% of the snaps and had just 3 carries for 7 yards and 1 target for 0 catches.
Do I think this will continue? Probably not. However, this was the first game with Sean Payton calling plays this season, and we saw an increased workload for Dobbins and less work for Harvey,
Tyler Badie – Unchanged: He did not see the touches he was getting previously, but his role remained the same. He is a third-down pass-blocking back who occasionally gets some touches in the run and pass game.
Adam Prentice – Unchanged: Played just 6 snaps on offense but did see his first carry of the season.
Wide Receiver
Jaylen Waddle – Stock down: The Broncos’ big offseason addition started to show some frustration on the field on Sunday, and well, it’s warranted. He was supposed to change this offense, but once again, he was an afterthought during the game, finishing with 5 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards. He did have a costly drop late in the game, and it was simply another disappointing effort for the Broncos’ explosive pass catcher.
We need Nix and Waddle to improve their chemistry on the field, and do it quickly.
Courtland Sutton – Stock up slightly: Like Dobbins, Sutton was invisible for most of the game. However, in the 4th quarter, he showed some life and caught his first touchdown of the season. His stat line is nothing to write home about, but we need to get Sutton going and, hopefully, these signs of life lead to more consistency moving forward.
Marvin Mims Jr. – Stock up: His play as a wide receiver was lackluster, but he showed life as a returner for the first time this season and had a 27-yard punt return to set the Broncos up in good field position.
Troy Franklin – Stock up: With Pat Bryant going on the short-term IR, Franklin saw added snaps on Sunday, but it did not amount to much. Still, it appears Franklin will have a larger role in the offense until Bryant returns from an ankle injury.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey – Unchanged: He was added to the roster after Bryant was added to the IR and saw 14 snaps with the offense vs. the Chargers. LJH saw 2 targets and turned that into 1 catch for 8 yards.
Tight End
Evan Engram – Unchanged: Engram has been outsnapping Adam Trautman the past few weeks with Davis Webb calling plays, but with Payton back calling plays, both saw 30 snaps on Sunday. With that said, Engram led the team in receiving with 4 catches for 55 yards, including a 34-yard reception early on that led to the Broncos’ first-quarter touchdown.
We’ll see how this trend continues moving forward.
Adam Trautman – Unchanged: His role is what it is, and Sean Payton favors him, so he’ll keep playing.
Nate Adkins – Unchanged: Adkins played 31% of the snaps, and his role as the third tight end/blocking specialist remains unchanged.
Dallen Bentley – Unchanged: Red-shirt rookie year for the Broncos ‘ 7th-round tight end.
Offensive Line
Garett Bolles – Unchanged: The Broncos OL has struggled a bit this season, but Bolles remains solid as Nix’s blindside blocker.
Ben Powers – Stock down: I am no offensive line expert, but the Broncos have had a lot of pressure come through the middle of the line. I am not sure if it all lands on Powers, but the pressure is happening.
Luke Wattenberg – Stock down: His snaps continue to be off target from time to time, and the pressure is coming through the middle of the line.
Quinn Meinerz – Unchanged: All-Pro caliber guard.
Mike McGlinchey – Stock down: Penalties and inconsistent blocking have been a trend this season for the Broncos veteran right tackle.
Alex Palczewski – Stock up: Saw 8 snaps on offense on Sunday in heavy packages, and with the Broncos leaning on the run game more, he could see more snaps moving forward. You could also make the case that he should see time at left guard or even right tackle.
Matt Peart – Unchanged: Saw 6 snaps on special teams.
Alex Forsyth – Unchanged: Saw 6 snaps on special teams.
Kage Casey – Unchanged: Redshirt rookie year and is probably locked in the weight room.
Defensive Line
Zach Allen – Stock up: Sack, forced fumble, and continues to be one of the best overall players on the Broncos this season.
DJ Jones – Stock up: Showed some life as a pass rusher and sacked Justin Herbert
Malcolm Roach – Unchanged: Played solid from what I saw. He has been consistent all season, but I hoped we would see a little more pass rush from him.
Eyioma Uwazurike – Unchanged: Played 45% of the snaps vs. the Chargers and had a big TFL late in the game.
Sai’vion Jones – Unchanged: He was active ahead of Jordan Jackson and played 30% of the snaps but did not register a tackle.
Jordan Jackson – Stock down: Was inactive on Sunday as the Broncos decided to go with Jones instead of him.
Tyler Onyedim – Unchanged: Redshirt rookie year continues. Hopefully, we can see him get some playing time this season.
Edge rusher
Nik Bonitto – Stock up: Bonitto finally showed some life on Sunday and totaled 2 sacks vs. the Chargers’ banged-up OL and Justin Herbert. We need more of these types of performances from Bonitto moving forward.
Jonah Elliss – Unchanged: He pressured Herbert a few times, but overall, I still want more from Elliss.
Que Robinson – Stock up: His play is not perfect, but he has made more impact plays this season than Jonah Elliss. He changed the entire momentum on Sunday when he stonewalled Justin Herbert on a 4th-and-1 QB sneak. That turnover on downs led to a 13-0 run by the Broncos, who would go on to win the game.
Dondrea Tillman – Stock up: He’s in a reserve role but made a few impact plays on Sunday, including a TFL and a near sack/safety of QB Justin Herbert.
Linebacker
Alex Singleton – Stock down: I thought he was playing solid for the most part, but he then whiffed on a tackle on a key 3rd-and-15 play. If he made the tackle, it would have been 4th and short, and the Chargers would have to punt it away or attempt to go for it. However, his whiff led to a big first down and eventually the Chargers’ first touchdown.
Gotta tackle better.
Justin Strnad – Stock up: Strnad was solid vs. the Chargers and had 1 TFL and a PBU late in the game. He has been fairly consistent for the Broncos this season.
Jordan Turner – Unchanged: Played 70% of the special teams snaps.
Karene Reid – Unchanged: Played 50% of the special teams snaps.
Cornerback
Pat Surtain II – Unchanged: Escaped with just a minor ankle injury and avoided the injured reserve, but missed Sunday’s game.
Riley Moss – Unchanged: Suffered a rib injury vs. the 49ers and did not play vs. the Chargers.
Ja’Quan McMillian – Stock up: Played well and showed off his pass rush ability on the Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game when he blitzed and sacked quarterback Justin Herbert.
Jahdae Barron – Stock up: Played 100% of the defensive snaps and looked pretty good. Again, the Chargers’ passing game was VERY limited, but he was physical in the run game and as a tackler and did not embarrass himself out there. The Seahawks present a much bigger challenge for him and the Broncos’ secondary.
Kris Abrams-Draine – Stock up: Played 100% of the snaps and, like Barron, did not disappoint. He had an INT called back due to DPI, but otherwise, KAD was solid vs. the Chargers. He will have a tougher test vs. the Seahawks on Thursday Night.
Safety
Talanoa Hufanga – Unchanged: He had a forced fumble, but would leave the game due to an injury and was ruled out. We’ll have to see if he can rebound on a short week.
Brandon Jones – Stock up: You can make the argument that he has been one of the Broncos’ better players this season. He is always around the ball and had a big INT on Justin Herbert late in the game.
Devon Key – Stock up: When Hufanga went out, Key came in and is the Broncos’ third safety. He could get a start on Thursday Night if Hufanga cannot play vs. the Seahawks.
Tycen Anderson – Unchanged: Played 80% of the special teams snaps.
JL Skinner – Stock up: Played 63% of the special teams snaps and had a few big tackles in the return game.
Special Teams
K Wil Lutz – Stock down: Went 3 for 4 on Sunday, but missed another 40 yard attempt and now has a missed FG in three straight games. Need more consistency from the Broncos’ kicker.
P Jeremy Crawshaw – Stock up: Has been very consistent this season and has flipped the field position and pinned opposing teams deep in their own territory multiple times this season.
LS Mitchell Fraboni – Unchanged: Good snaps.
