Baker Mayfield, improved Browns’ passing offense to face an extremely thin Broncos secondary

The Denver Broncos will be without at least three key contributors when the Cleveland Browns come to town on Saturday.

According to Nicki Jhabvala of the Athletic, outside linebacker Shaq Barrett and cornerbacks, Chris Harris Jr. and Isaac Yiadom will all be out for the Week 15 matchup. Defensive end Derek Wolfe has cleared the concussion protocol, but is questionable to play at this time.

Harris is obviously not a surprise. The only way that the veteran defensive back was expected to make it back into the lineup would be if the Broncos made the playoffs. But without Yiadom in the mix, the Broncos will only have four healthy corners on the active roster if the organization does not make any moves.

Denver signed veteran DB Jamar Taylor prior to the loss to San Francisco and recently promoted safety Trey Marshall to the 53-man roster. But even with these roster moves, the lack of experience and continuity in Denver’s secondary should be concerning to the Broncos faithful, especially after recently getting torched by the duo of Nick Mullens and George Kittle.

The Browns may not be an elite passing offense, but with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield running the show, Cleveland has certainly been competent through the air. In the last four games, Mayfield has finished with a QBR of 125.0 or higher three times and the first-year pro has averaged at least 9.0 yards per attempt in each of those four games as well.

Even more concerning, the young, mobile quarterback loves to target his athletic tight end, David Njoku. After being targeted 60 times in 16 games last season, Njoku has already been targeted 73 times with three games still remaining on Cleveland’s slate.

With Njoku running across the middle and a speedy wide receiver like Jarvis Landry on the outside, Denver is going to have its hands full this Saturday. The Broncos have struggled against mobile quarterbacks all season and tight ends have long plagued Denver as well. All things considered, this rare Saturday night matchup has all the makings to be a disappointing outcome for Broncos Country.