The Denver Broncos wrapped up their first week of OTAs, and we’ve got a mailbag on deck to answer some of Broncos Country’s questions from the Thursday session we had access to.
If you want to send in your mailbag questions, be sure to follow me on Twitter or Threads @CodyRoarkNFL or send them to cody@milehighsports.com
Denver Broncos mailbag following Week 1 of OTAs
Each week during OTAs, minicamp, training camp, and the regular season, we’ll have a mailbag for Broncos fans to share their opinions and ask questions. Today’s installment highlights the wide receiver room, cornerback battle, and much more.
Who appears to be leading the WR room early on without Courtland Sutton at OTAs and Tim Patrick working his way back? – DartsViking on Twitter.
Tim Patrick is the guy leading that room right now. I asked Sean Payton following Thursday’s practice how Tim has looked since coming back into the lineup after his injury last year.
“He’s smart, he’s tough, and I would say he’s one of the leaders in that room,” Payton told me. Last season, it was evident that he had big plans for Patrick to play all over at receiver in the slot and on the outside. Behind the scenes, Patrick has been another coach in the wide receiver room and everyone is hopeful he can remain healthy.
Expect Denver to be smart with his on-field reps this offseason through training camp. Josh Reynolds is another name to keep an eye on from the first week of OTAs.
He hauled in several passes and looked good where Payton had him lined up. Overall, Denver’s receiver room has a lot of bodies in it and I felt like there was quality competition across the board on Thursday.
Broncos receiver group has a lot of solid players across the board. Tim Patrick is the leader of the room right now according to Sean Payton. Good to see TP back out there today. pic.twitter.com/3H3BCB9Y3R
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) May 24, 2024
How did Riley Moss look? Do you think he is the front-runner for CB2? – Kinlayy on Twitter.
The Broncos CB2 competition is going to be fun to watch this summer. Regarding Moss, he looked fluid in Thursday’s practice, where he saw work on the outside and inside.
He’s fully healthy and looks significantly faster than he did last year, but that could also be attributed to not wearing shoulder pads. Overall, he looked comfortable in off-ball coverage and playing in press technique.
Moss has sound technique, stays square, and does a great job of mirroring the receivers he covers when in press coverage. However, he’ll have plenty of competition for the job with guys like Damarri Mathis, Levi Wallace, Art Green, Ja’Quan McMillian, and others.
Watching and observing defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard, his experience as an NFL DB for 10 seasons is easy to see, and he relates well to the players he’s coaching. You can tell that he’s going to have a fast track to become a defensive coordinator with how he diversifies his coverage looks and emphasizes that players can play multiple roles.
Who stood out the most on offense and defense on Thursday? – Jolene on Twitter.
Looking at the top players on both sides of the ball from Thursday’s practice, we’ll start with the offense.
Lucas Krull and Josh Reynolds were the two standouts offensively. Krull received strong praise from Payton after practice relative to his performance, while Reynolds caught several passes and was consistent across the board.
Both players looked explosive on the day.
Defensively, Ja’Quan McMillian and Nik Bonitto were the two players that stood out the most to me on defense. Granted, there are no shoulder pads or contact allowed, but McMillian had really strong coverage throughout the afternoon.
Bonitto’s first step looks really quick and explosive, and he had several reps where he got past or behind Garett Bolles in some of the team period drills. He’s a true pressure player, and it was on display on Thursday.
Do you think the Denver Broncos will fill out depth at inside linebacker and tight end after rosters need to be cut down? – Wes Choate on Twitter.
Great question, Wes. At this point, I don’t think there will be any significant change to their current depth at those positions. It’s hard to project right now when the team does make roster cuts because that will be after the final preseason game.
Denver’s tight end depth right now features Krull and Adam Trautman as their top two options. Nate Adkins is back and Thomas Yassmin doesn’t count against the roster due to having an international player designation. The key factor will be whenever Greg Dulcich returns to practice, which should happen in the next two weeks.
At linebacker, Denver has a solid rotation of Jonas Griffith, Cody Barton, and Justin Strnad receiving reps next to Alex Singleton. Undrafted rookie free agent Levelle Bailey is athletic and is getting himself acclimated to the playbook. He will get more reps behind those guys to get even more comfortable.
It feels like the team is content with the depth and the players they have right now at the position.
What kind of vibes are you getting about this Denver Broncos roster at this point of the offseason? – Ed Helinski.
Great question, Ed. Honestly, the vibes around the team facility are pretty comfortable. It was odd seeing different players wearing #30 and #31, but the entire vibe of the team surrounds the QB position.
Last year, it felt mysterious not knowing how Russell Wilson and Payton were going to mesh, but it feels like each QB is comfortably leading the way. The morale around the building feels entirely different.
Once we get to training camp, we’ll be able to have a better overall sense of this.