Welcome back, NFL football!
The Broncos are set to host the Raiders on Sunday in their 2023 season opener. Ahead of that AFC West showdown, I joined Broncos Wire podcast host Ryan O’Leary on this week’s episode.
We gave some quick thoughts on the 53-man roster and Denver’s (lack of) depth at wide receiver before discussing a pair of trades the Broncos made during roster cuts. After that, we previewed the Denver-Las Vegas game.
You can listen to episode 83 below:
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Our unedited notes for this week’s pod can be seen below.
53-man roster set
The Broncos set their roster last week. A few notes…
- Fan-favorite undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin is the new RB3 behind Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine. Teammates and coaches have gushed about McLaughlin all offseason — could he be Sean Payton’s new Darren Sproles? The small (5-7, 187-pounds) speedy running back set an NCAA record with more than 8,000 rushing yards in college.
- Jonathon Cooper making the team obviously isn’t a surprise, but he started in preseason and I bet he’ll set in Week 1 over Frank Clark (Baron Browning [knee] is on the reserve/PUP list). Cooper was a 7th-round pick in 2021 and he’s been an injury fill-in starter for 14 games over the last two seasons. Now wearing No. 0, Cooper impressed this summer.
- There are only 4 wide receivers on the active roster: Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims and Brandon Johnson. Seems pretty slim. The Broncos can elevate two players from the practice squad each week and they have WRs Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Phillip Dorsett and David Sills on the PS right now.
- Jerry Jeudy (hamstring) has been working on the side at practice and he has an uncertain status for Week 1, leaving just three healthy WRs. In addition to the practice squad options, the Broncos also have receiving tight end Greg Dulcich, and it’s possible that KJ Hamler might come back later this season.
Broncos made 2 trades
In addition to a flurry of roster cuts, Denver also made a pair of trades at the cut deadline last week…
- After initial reports that they were going to cut him, the Broncos ended up trading TE Albert Okwuegbunam and a 7th-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for a 6th-round pick. Not a bad deal for a player Denver was going to cut anyway. The team’s TEs are now Adam Trautman, Greg Dulcich, Chris Manhertz and undrafted rookie Nate Adkins.
- Turns out neither Brett Maher nor Elliott Fry won the Broncos’ kicker competition. Denver cut Fry early and Maher was decent in preseason, but Payton traded a 7th-round pick to the Saints on cut day to bring in Wil Lutz. He had success under Payton in New Orleans and has a career long of 60 yards. Lutz had a down year last season but the Broncos attribute that to him coming back from core muscle surgery. Ultimately, Denver is going from Brandon McManus to Lutz with a net savings of $2.05 million in cap space.
Raiders Week
- The Broncos are considered 4-point home favorites against the Raiders this week despite their six-game losing streak to Las Vegas. Last year, the Raiders defeated the Broncos by six points (22-16 in overtime) on the road and by nine points (32-23) at home.
- Big changes for Broncos this year: New coach Sean Payton, upgrades on the offensive line, Vance Joseph at defensive coordinator, Perine as RB2.
- Big changes for the Raiders this year: Replaced QB Derek Carr with QB Jimmy Garoppolo, traded TE Darren Waller to Giants. Re-signed RB Josh Jacobs and are bringing back WR Davante Adams.
- First team to 200 rushing yards wins? I think both teams will want to pound the rock. Payton set up Denver’s offense to run and Jacobs led the NFL in rushing last year.
Ryan and I will return each week during the season to react to every game.
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