The Broncos entered Thursday night as home underdogs vs. the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, but ended the night with a hard-fought victory and a 4-2 record. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a defensive slugfest between two of the best defenses in the NFL, and at the end of the night, the Broncos’ defense did enough to win the game.
While the Broncos’ defense dominated, the Broncos’ offense struggled. However, they were always going to struggle. It was a short week, and they were going against Mike
Macdonald’s top-ranked Seattle Seahawks defense. Still, Nix led the Broncos to two touchdown drives in the first half while the defense held the lead until the final seconds of the 4th quarter, when the Seahawks tied it. However, the Broncos’ defense called game in overtime with a Ja’Quan McMillian INT that set up the game-winning field goal.
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 yet another ugly win vs. the Seahawks on Thursday, we have a good mix of stock-ups and stock-downs today.
Quarterback
Bo Nix – Stock down: Nix hot takes are everywhere today. I am going with stock down but also saying it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.
This game was never going to be a get-right offensive showcase by the Broncos. Mike Macdonald’s defense is among the best in the NFL and very well coached. Add in the short week/TNF aspect of it, and you had the makings of a defensive slugfest between two of the top units in the NFL.
Still, Nix and the offense need to be better. We saw similar struggles last year (An arguably worse showing on TNF last year vs. the Raiders) before seeing them turn it around and play pretty well late in the year. They have had a brutal stretch to start the year and came out of it 4-2 despite their obvious issues. Things get easier from here on out, on paper at least, and the offense will need to turn it around. You CANNOT have these same struggles vs. the Cardinals next week, coming off a mini-bye week.
Jarrett Stidham – Unchanged: Some fans want Bo benched, but Stiddy remains the veteran backup.
Sam Ehlinger – Unchanged: Emergency third-string QB
Running Back
JK Dobbins – Stock down: 2.4 yards per carry. Dobbins finished the game with 17 carries for 41 yards, and outside of one 16-yard scamper, he was mostly ineffective on Thursday Night. Take away that 16-yard run, and Dobbins had 16 carries for 25 yards, which comes out to be an ugly 1.6 yards per carry.
The Broncos NEED better production from their run game. Dobbins has not shown much at all this season, and unless things change quickly, he should not be getting 17 carries a game. Rookie Jonah Coleman is eligible to come off the short-term IR this week and should be inserted into the Broncos’ offense immediately.
RJ Harvey – Stock up: Harvey has been the Broncos’ best playmaker this season. He had 6 carries for 25 yards (4.2 YPC) and 3 receptions for 31 yards. That is 9 touches for 56 total yards from scrimmage. He has the explosion and burst that Dobbins does not have and is running hard through contact. I wanted to see more of Harvey on Thursday Night.
Tyler Badie – Stock down: Badie has been making a few good plays a game, but unfortunately, left last night’s game with a thumb injury and was late ruled out. With Coleman coming off the IR next week, Badie will likely return to being inactive and may miss some time with this thumb injury.
Adam Prentice – Unchanged: Played 5 offensive snaps and mostly contributed to special teams.
Wide Receiver
Jaylen Waddle – Stock down: 7 targets for 4 catches for 24 yards. Tough defense and the passing offense struggling. The Broncos need to get Waddle going.
Courtland Sutton – Stock down: Thought he showed some life last week, but he only had 3 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards.
Troy Franklin – Unchanged: 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards. The passing offense was non-existent.
Marvin Mims Jr. – Stock down: I am going stock down because he’s having a poor start to his contract year. Injuries, nothing of note on offense, and hasn’t been great as a returner. Mims also played just 16 snaps of offense, which was one less than Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey – Unchanged: Depth player who knows his role on offense.
Tight End
Evan Engram – Stock down: He was playing more than Trautman, but was 50/50 with him on Sunday and played two fewer than him on Thursday Night. With Payton taking over playcalling and running the ball more, Engram’s playing time has taken a hit. He also only had 2 catches for 13 yards.
Adam Trautman – Unchanged: He is who he is.
Nate Adkins – Unchanged: Played 22 snaps but did not see a target and was primarily used as a run blocker.
Dallen Bentley – Unchanged: Remained a healthy scratch.
Offensive Line
Garett Bolles – Unchanged: Remains a consistent presence on the left side of the Broncos OL.
Ben Powers – Stock down: He had a rough night against the Seahawks’ talented interior defensive line. A lot of pressure came from his area, and he had issues with run blocking.
Luke Wattenberg – Stock down: His snaps are consistently wide, and he’s struggling in the same areas that Powers is.
Quinn Meinerz – Stock up: Stud.
Mike McGlinchey – Unchanged: Has had his ups and downs at right tackle but has been mostly consistent.
Alex Palczewski – Stock up: Only played 1 offensive snap, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him get some reps at left guard.
Matt Peart – Unchanged: 0 snaps on offense and played on special teams.
Alex Forsyth – Unchanged: 0 snaps on offense and played on special teams.
Kage Casey – Unchanged: Remained inactive
Defensive Line
Zach Allen – Stock up: Has been playing damn good football and continued that on Thursday Night.
DJ Jones – Stock up: Was that the best game DJ Jones played as a Bronco? I go through games without really noticing him, but that was not the case last night. Multiple pressures, some TFLs, and he was consistently in the backfield disrupting the play.
Malcolm Roach – Unchanged: Played solid last night but did see Enyi Uwazurike play a few more snaps than he did. Some of that had to do with Roach going into the blue tent during the game, but still, a solid overall showing by Roach.
Eyioma Uwazurike – Unchanged: Played 53% of the snaps and remains a big rotational presence along the Broncos defensive line.
Sai’vion Jones – Stock up: He saw 22 snaps and made a few plays. Had a big hit on Sam Darnold late in the game and a PBU late in the game as well. He was active ahead of Jordan Jackson again and seems to be earning some more trust.
Jordan Jackson – Unchanged: Inactive
Tyler Onyedim – Unchanged: Redshirt rookie year
Edge Rushers
Nik Bonitto – Stock up: Bonitto has had back-to-back really good games and had his best game of the season last night vs. the Seahawks. Forced a fumble, had a sack, and was pressuring Darnold throughout the night.
Jonah Elliss – Stock down: Jonah showed some life last night and had a sack, but a late-game knee injury that did not look good potentially derailed his season. No word on the severity, but he was carted off, and it did not look good on the replay.
Que Robinson – Stock way up: I am a big Que Robinson fan, and he continues to flash talent each week. He has the size/speed off the edge as a pass rusher and could be on the verge of a big run here if he sees more playing time. He needs to improve against the run, but overall, he’s looking like an ascending player for the Broncos.
Dondrea Tillman – Stock up: Tillman is a solid player who could see a larger role if Elliss is out for an extended period of time. Saw 48% of the snaps last night.
Linebacker
Alex Singleton – Stock up: Singleton gets a lot of hate but not a lot of love when he plays well, and I thought he played really well vs. the Seahawks. He made multiple plays at or behind the LOS in the run game, did not miss many, if any, tackles, and I do not recall any bad coverage plays by Singleton. Solid showing and has put together a few pretty good games.
Justin Strnad – Unchanged: Consistent. He may not wow you, but also, he’s not the player you’re pointing out as the weak point of the defense. Solid and consistent overall player.
Jordan Turner – Unchanged: Played most of the special teams snaps.
Karene Reid – Unchanged: Special teams
Cornerback
Pat Surtain II – Unchanged: Did not play due to an ankle injury. We were robbed of a PS2/JSN matchup.
Riley Moss – Unchanged: Moss played just 20 snaps last night and is still clearly limited by his rib injury.
Ja’Quan McMillian – Stock up: He has that clutch gene. Had the game-ending INT that set up the game-winning field goal. Pay that man.
Jahdae Barron – Stock way up: Barron played all 85 defensive snaps last night and, honestly, held his own. There were a few blemishes, but he has tight coverage on Shaheed on that deep completion, and JSN is the best in the NFL for a reason. He was the Broncos CB1 last night against the reigning Super Bowl Champs, and honestly, the defense did not miss a beat. He held his own and silenced any talk of him being a bust. He proved he could start in the NFL and hold his own amongst the best in the NFL.
Kris Abrams-Draine – Stock up: Had what should have been the game-ending interception late in the 4th quarter and played well overall. Had 76% of the defensive snaps and, like Barron, proved he could hold his own as a starter in the NFL. I call KAD the best 5th corner in the NFL, and he proved that once again last night.
Safety
Talanoa Hufanga – Unchanged: Did not play due to an ankle injury
Brandon Jones – Unchanged: Played well overall but did have an ugly missed tackle late. The defense was gassed late, so I am not going to hammer him for it. He has been a solid player for the Broncos throughout the year.
Taylor Rapp – Stock up: He’s not on the 53-man roster, but he started and played 76% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps last night, and he held his own. He’s an experienced veteran who played like one on a night when the Broncos’ defense was down multiple All-Pro starters and still had one of their best overall performances in years.
Devon Key – Unchanged: Saw 29 reps on defense and continued to be an All-Pro-caliber player on special teams.
Tycen Anderson – Unchanged: Continues to be a key part of the Broncos’ special teams units.
JL Skinner – Stock up: He makes a few plays a week on special teams and continues to catch my attention.
Special Teams
Wil Lutz – Stock up: Lutz was getting some heat after a couple missed kicks recently, but he silenced the haters when he nailed a 53-yard game-winner.
Jeremy Crawshaw – Stock up: All-Pro punter? Flipped the field position multiple times and averaged nearly 50 yards per boot.
Mitchell Fraboni – Unchanged: Good snaps.
