Breaking down the Broncos' initial 53-man roster

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos' initial 53-man roster is set, and there's plenty to dive into as Denver nears Week 1.


From a crowded wide receiver room to a surprise in the secondary, the Broncos made lots of moves that are worth a closer look.


We'll do that below — with the caveat that things could change quickly. As hundreds of players are waived across the league, the Broncos may not be done tinkering yet. A season ago, the Broncos claimed four players off waivers, executed a trade and signed a couple of other players, which meant their Week 1 roster looked very different than their initial 53-man group.


That doesn't seem as likely this season, as President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway said he doesn't expect to be active on the waiver wire.


"No, we don't," Elway said Saturday. "I think that we feel pretty good about our football team. Obviously, we're going to look at everything and look at all possibilities and see if there's a chance that somebody would be out there to help our football team. I think we feel pretty good about where we are, kind of excited about the football team we have."


Note: Players are listed by position group and ordered at the author's discretion. The Broncos have not released a depth chart for the 2020 season.


Quarterback: Drew Lock, Jeff Driskel


The Broncos kept just two quarterbacks after waiving Brett Rypien, but it remains possible that they could add another quarterback to their practice squad in case of a COVID-19 outbreak in the quarterback room.


"We'll see," Elway said. "I think obviously with the practice squad's as large as they are, we've been looking at different options of what we can do at the quarterback position. It really is in case we were to have an outbreak at that position, trying to solve that before we got there. … Like many teams out there, we're still looking for different options to try and avoid any catastrophe."


Lock remains the team's unquestioned starter, and Elway liked what he saw from the second-year player to end training camp after an up-and-down few weeks.


"It was a little inconsistent, but I think that's what we expect," Elway said. "I think you have to get challenged. You have to have bad days in practice. You know how you bounce back from them, but also you'll learn from those too. I think it was a little bit of an up and down. I think he had a real nice [practice] last night. He finished strong, finished camp strong last night with a good night."


Running back: Melvin Gordon III, Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman


If Freeman was pushed by undrafted running back LeVante Bellamy during training camp, he survived the challenge. The Broncos' running back group is solid and should be among the league's best with two former Pro Bowlers and a solid reserve in Freeman. Andrew Beck, whom we'll get to in a moment, should serve as the team's fullback, when needed.


Wide receiver: Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, DaeSean Hamilton, Tim Patrick, Diontae Spencer, Tyrie Cleveland


The Broncos loaded up at receiver, as all three 2020 draft picks at the position made the initial 53-man roster. Hamilton and Patrick also kept their spots and should be key contributors early. Spencer, meanwhile, retained his position as the team's return specialist.


"Obviously, 'Spence' has the return value that gets counted there," Fangio said. "We have a good group of receivers. We just took the attitude of rather than go with the traditional numbers and cut a good player, we were going to try and keep the good players. KJ is still nursing his hamstring, but we expect him to be healthy soon. You have guys like Cleveland that brings special-teams value that are improving daily as receivers. Patrick, big time special-teams value and good receiver. It's a good group, and that's why the numbers are higher."


Elway said Hamler would not be placed on injured reserve to begin the season, as the second-round pick is "close."


"Hopefully he starts running around this week," Elway said. "We'll take him day-to-day. He's going to stay on the 53. He'll stay there."


Cleveland, meanwhile, earned a spot in large part because of his special teams prowess.


"First of all, Tyrie, he's a big guy that can really run," Elway said. "I think that his willingness, his toughness — he put his nose down in the running game in practice, but also what he can do on special teams. ... He [knew] that for him to make this football team he has to really show a lot on special teams. He did that. He also showed that he's a very capable wideout. He's obviously very young and has a long way to go, but he proved that he's big, he's physical and he can catch the football. Also, he can be very helpful on the special teams which is a key for the fifth, sixth, seventh receivers."


Tight end: Noah Fant, Nick Vannett, Albert Okwuegbunam, Andrew Beck, Jake Butt


While Fant, Vannett and Okwuegbunam were seemingly locks, Beck, Butt and Troy Fumagalli battled for roster spots for most of camp. Beck's positional versatility seemingly helped him earn a spot, and Butt earned the nod over Troy Fumagalli, who was waived/injured.


"I'll tell you what, it's been a hell of a year for Jake," Fangio said. "From Day 1 — and he came back with the early group — I've not seen him limp once. He hasn't been in the training room other than when they get the boot on to refresh their legs. He's had a terrific camp, not just playing-wise, but he's 100 percent healthy and moving around good. You'd never know that he'd been through the injuries that he's had with his knees. He looks as good as new to me."


Offensive line: Garett Bolles, Dalton Risner, Lloyd Cushenberry III, Graham Glasgow, Elijah Wilkinson, Demar Dotson, Austin Schlottmann, Netane Muti, Calvin Anderson


In a crowded position group, Patrick Morris and Jake Rodgers were among the players who were waived Saturday. Both players started games last season for the Broncos, and Morris competed for a starting job at center for a portion of training camp. Rookie Lloyd Cushenberry III could be just the second Broncos rookie to be a Week 1 starter at center since the AFL-NFL merger, and sixth-round pick Netane Muti also made the team.