The Denver Broncos came away from the 2023 NFL draft with five new rookies, plus a veteran tight end acquired via a trade with the New Orleans Saints.
The Broncos will now fill their 90-man offseason roster by signing undrafted free agents, and Denver might consider one or two budget veteran free agents who are still available as well.
When it’s all sorted out, the Broncos will go into organized team activities with a full roster later this month and then return for a minicamp in June. Players will then get a break until training camp begins in late July.
There are likely a few tweaks still to come, but Denver’s offseason roster appears to be mostly set. With that in mind, here are the team’s winners (risers) and losers (fallers) following the 2023 NFL draft.
1
Winners: WRs Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy
The Broncos kept their word and did not trade Sutton and Jeudy during the NFL draft. They’re sticking around for the 2023 season.
2
Loser: WR KJ Hamler
The Broncos moved up the draft board to select Oklahoma wide receiver Marvin Mims in the second round. Mims is a speedy deep threat who excels as a punt returner. Sound familiar? Mims could be a direct replacement for Hamler as early as this season.
3
Winner: OL Lloyd Cushenberry
The Broncos did not use one of their early-round picks to add a center, waiting all the way until the seventh round before selecting Oregon’s Alex Forsyth. Cushenberry will face competition for the center job this summer, but as of now, the veteran is the favorite to start in Week 1.
4
Loser: TE Albert Okwuegbunam
The Broncos made a Day 3 trade with the Saints to acquire tight end Adam Trautman, who Sean Payton drafted with New Orleans in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft. Trautman is now the early favorite to serve as the team’s No. 2 tight end, bumping “Albert O” down the depth chart.
5
Winner: RB Tony Jones
The Broncos did not select a running back during the draft which means, as of now, Jones is set to serve as the team’s RB3. If Javonte Williams is not recovered from his knee injury by Week 1, Jones could be the RB2 by default early in the season. This will change, of course, if Denver signs a free agent running back.
6
Loser: LB Justin Strnad
After selecting Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders in the third round of the draft, Denver’s LB room now includes Josey Jewell, Alex Singleton, Jonas Griffith and Sanders. Strnad might be the odd man out.
7
Winners: DL Matt Henningsen and DL Eyioma Uwazurike
The Broncos did not draft any defensive linemen, which presumably means the team will count on second-year defenders Henningsen and Uwazurike to step into much larger roles in 2023. DeShawn Williams, who left the team in free agency, started 15 games last year, so there are now a lot of snaps left up for grabs on the team’s defensive line.
8
Winner: DC Vance Joseph
The Broncos only had five draft picks this year and they used three of them to improve depth on defense, adding linebacker Drew Sanders, cornerback Riley Moss and safety JL Skinner. Joseph inherited an already-talented defense and it got even better on paper during the draft.
9
Loser: OL Luke Wattenberg
The Broncos signed center Kyle Fuller during free agency and then used a seventh-round pick to select Forsyth. Wattenberg’s chances of winning the starting center job are now even lower than they were before the draft. He’ll face tough competition to win a backup swing guard/center role this summer.
10
Winner: QB Jarrett Guarantano
The Broncos did not use a late-round pick to draft a quarterback as some expected and, as of this writing, the team’s UDFA class does not include a QB. That means Guarantano is the QB3 by default at the moment.
11
Winner: OLB Christopher Allen
After missing his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a foot injury, Allen is now healthy and ready to compete for a rotational pass-rusher role this summer. The Broncos did not select any outside linebackers in the draft, helping Allen’s chances of making the 53-man roster in his second season.
