Tag: Damarea Crockett

Sean Payton comments on Broncos cutting 3 running backs

Broncos coach Sean Payton downplayed cutting three running backs, saying the team wanted roster space to look at players at other positions.

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In less than a week, the Denver Broncos recently parted ways with three running backs: Jacques Patrick, Tyreik McAllister and Damarea Crockett.

Those three cuts left the team with just five running backs on the 90-man offseason roster. Some speculated that the cuts were good news for the recovery status of Javonte Williams.

Others have speculated that the Broncos are making room for a big-name addition at running back, such as Dalvin Cook.

Denver coach Sean Payton downplayed both possibilities during his media availability last week, suggesting that the Broncos made cuts at RB simply to have roster space to get a look at players at other positions.

“Part of [roster cuts] is just it’s normal with this roster that you are going to churn certain position groups based on getting a chance to look at other players,” Payton said on June 8. “It just so happens that a couple have been at running back.”

Whether or not Payton is being truthful remains to be seen. We’ll be keeping an eye on Cook’s status in the coming days.

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Broncos made 2 roster moves on Monday

The Broncos signed rookie WR Nick Williams and cut RB Damarea Crockett on Monday.

The Denver Broncos have signed wide receiver Nick Williams, the team announced Monday.

Williams (6-4, 220 pounds) is a local prospect who grew up in Aurora and played high school football at Cherry Creek High School. He started his college career at CSU-Pueblo (Division II), totaling 107 receptions for 1,428 yards and nine touchdowns in three years (35 games).

Ahead of his senior season last year, Williams transferred to UNLV. He totaled 28 catches for 435 yards and two scores in 12 games with the Rebels last fall. He tried out for the Broncos at rookie minicamp last month.

Williams will join a crowded wide receiver room that already includes Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Kendall Hinton, Marquez Callaway, Jalen Virgil, Brandon Johnson, KJ Hamler, Montrell Washington, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Taylor Grimes.

To make room for Williams on the 90-man offseason roster, the Broncos waived running back Damarea Crockett. That leaves just five running backs on the roster: Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine, Tony Jones, Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin.

Denver also recently cut running backs Jacques Patrick and Tyreik McAllister. The Broncos parting ways with three RBs might be another sign that the team is confident Williams (knee) will be healthy in time for the regular season.

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Broncos’ projected running back depth chart after NFL draft

Samaje Perine might serve as a fill-in starter for the Broncos early in the season if Javonte Williams is not fully recovered by Week 1.

The Denver Broncos did not select a running back in the 2023 NFL draft, leaving the team with an interesting RB depth chart going into OTAs.

Here’s a quick projection of where Denver’s running back depth chart stands at the moment.

Projected starter: Javonte Williams is recovering from a serious knee injury that might make him a candidate to begin the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which would rule him out for the first four games of the season. Williams is the obvious starter once healthy. 

RB2/Fill-in starter: Samaje Perine proved with the Cincinnati Bengals that he’s a quality RB2 who has the ability to serve as a fill-in starter. If Williams does begin the season the PUP list, Perine will start in his place.

RB3: Tony Jones seems to be the early favorite to win the third-string running back job given his familiarity in Sean Payton’s offense. Jones started four games for the Saints in 2021, rushing 54 times for 142 yards that season. Last year, he split time between New Orleans and the Seattle Seahawks.

Competing for RB4: Damarea Crockett, Tyler Badie, Tyreik McAllister, Jaleel McLaughlin and Emanuel Wilson will likely be competing for the final active roster spot and one or two practice squad spots. Crockett has the most experience in this group. Badie made one appearance last season and McAllister has spent time on Denver’s practice squad. 

McLaughlin and Wilson are expected to be among the team’s undrafted free agent signings, which are yet to be officially announced.

Unless the Broncos are comfortable with Jones potentially serving as the default RB2 if Williams is sidelined early in the season, the team could be in the market to sign a veteran free agent running back. The list of RBs still available includes Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt and Phillip Lindsay.

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Broncos made 3 roster moves on Wednesday

The Broncos placed Tim Patrick and Damarea Crockett on IR on Wednesday and signed rookie running back Max Borghi.

The Denver Broncos made three roster moves on Wednesday, and at least one more is on the way.

First, the team officially placed wide receiver Tim Patrick (knee) and running back Damarea Crockett (knee) on injured reserve. Because they went on IR before the initial 53-man roster was set, Patrick and Crockett will not be eligible to return to the active roster this season.

Those two injury moves left the team with two open spots on the roster. Denver filled one of them by signing rookie running back Max Borghi.

Borghi (5-9, 207 pounds) was one of seven players who tired out for the team on Wednesday, including three running backs. Borghi won the tryout at RB and he’ll now compete with Tyreik McAllister for the RB4 job behind Javonte Williams, Melvin Gordon and Mike Boone.

Borghi rushed for 2,158 yards and 32 touchdowns in four years (39 games) at Washington State. He also hauled in 156 receptions for 1,134 yards and nine scores in college before going undrafted in April.

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7 players tried out for Broncos on Wednesday

The Broncos brought in three running backs, three wide receivers and one quarterback for tryouts on Wednesday.

Story update: The Broncos signed wide receiver Darrius Shepherd on Thursday, the team announced. The 90-man offseason roster is now full. See our original post below.

Looking to fill two open roster spots following the injuries suffered by wide receiver Tim Patrick and running back Damarea Crockett, the Denver Broncos brought in seven players for tryouts on Wednesday.

The Broncos brought in three running backs: Max Borghi, Jaquan Hardy and Jaylen Samuels. Hardy is a second-year player who spent time with the Dallas Cowboys last year. Samuels is a fourth-year back who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2018-2021. Borghi is a college free agent out of Washington State.

Borghi won the RB tryout and signed with the team Wednesday. That leaves Denver with one open spot on the 90-man offseason roster.

The Broncos also brought in three wide receivers: Jonathan Adams, Kekoa Crawford and Darrius Shepherd. At the time of this writing, none of the receivers have signed. Shepherd has spent time with six NFL teams since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Finally, Denver also tried out a quarterback: K.J. Costello, who went to training camp with the Los Angeles Chargers as a rookie last summer and spent time with the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL this spring.

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Broncos RB Damarea Crockett suffers season-ending knee injury

Broncos RB Damarea Crockett is expected to miss the 2022 season after suffering a knee injury during training camp.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick wasn’t the only player who suffered a season-ending injury at Tuesday’s practice.

Just like Patrick, running back Damarea Crockett suffered a non-contract knee injury on Tuesday. Crockett is also expected to miss the entire 2022 season, the team announced Tuesday evening.

Crockett went into training camp as the team’s fourth-string running back behind Mevin Gordon, Javonte Williams and Mike Boone. Crockett was a key special teams player for the Broncos in 2021.

With Crockett now sidelined, Tyreik McAllister will be promoted to RB4 duties, at least for the moment.

One free agent running back who might be a candidate to replace Crockett is Max Borghi, who tried out for the Broncos in June.

“I thought he did some really nice things,” offensive coordinator Justin Outten said of Borghi on June 14. “He’s got good twitch, he’s patient, he waits for that lane to open and then he pops it. He did a couple of good things in protection as well.”

Borghi joined the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State in April, but he was waived in May and he’s remained a free agent since then.

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Broncos will have a 16-player practice squad again in 2022

NFL teams will once again have 16-player practice squads this season.

When NFL players and team owners finalized a new collective bargaining agreement in 2020, the deal initially planned for teams to have 12-player practice squads in 2020 and 2021 followed by an increase to 14 players in 2022.

Then COVID-19 hit and the NFL and NFLPA agreed to increase practice squads to 16 players to give teams more roster flexibility. Coaches and players liked the increase, and it’s going to stick around.

Going forward, the NFL’s practice squad limit will be 16 players, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. That’s great news for players on the roster bubble and good news for teams wanting more depth during the season.

Starting this year, teams can have up to six veterans on the practice squad regardless of how long those six players have been in the NFL.

Each player on the practice squad is also eligible to be elevated to the active roster on game days up to three times a season without having to clear waivers to revert back to the practice squad after the game.

Last year, the Denver Broncos’ initial practice squad notably included wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, running back Damarea Crockett, cornerback Nate Hairston, quarterback Brett Rypien, offensive lineman Austin Schlottmann and wide receiver Kendall Hinton.

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Broncos injuries: Lloyd Cushenberry placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Broncos placed C Lloyd Cushenberry and OT Drew Himmelman on COVID reserve today. Denver also re-signed RB Damarea Crockett to the practice squad.

Denver Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Thursday.

Cushenberry could be cleared in time for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders if he has a negative test before then. If Cushenberry is not back in time for the game, Austin Schlottmann and Quinn Meinerz would be the candidates to start in his place, coach Vic Fangio said.

Denver’s complete injury report from Thursday and the team’s other COVID and injury-related moves can be seen below.

Broncos made two roster moves ahead of ‘Sunday Night Football’

Broncos activated RB Damarea Crockett to 53-man roster and cut WR Tyrie Cleveland. Denver also ruled out RB Melvin Gordon.

The Denver Broncos made a pair of roster moves on Saturday afternoon ahead of their “Sunday Night Football” clash with the Kansas City Chiefs. Here’s a quick recap of Denver’s recent buzz going into the AFC West showdown.

Broncos made 6 roster moves Tuesday

Broncos GM George Paton was busy on Tuesday, making six transactions.

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton has been busy. After completing two trades in recent days, Paton made six more transactions on Tuesday.