Broncos Pre-Season Finale Takeaways

Broncos Pre-Season Finale Takeaways

The Broncos ended their pre-season on a great note capturing a win on the road in Arizona winning 21-10. Many of the starters rested this week to prepare for the home opener next week. This gave rookies and undrafted players a chance to make the 53-man roster.

There were four main players to watch in this game for the Broncos: Paxton Lynch (Shocking right??) Josey Jewell, Jeff Holland, and De’Angelo Henderson.

On the other side, AKA the sidelines you had numerous players get the night off, including Case Keenum, Royce Freeman, Philip Lindsay, Von Miller and more.

Paxton Lynch

In the second half, Paxton Lynch came out slinging. After, falling behind early in the first half 7-3, Lynch helped guide the third team offense to score 11 points in the third quarter. Paxton finished with a pair of touchdowns going 14 of 15 from the field finishing with a 141.8 passer rating.

“Paxton played well,” Head Coach Vance Joseph said. “I thought Paxton played well last week and against Chicago, so I’m not surprised that he played good football tonight.”

This could be the last time we see Paxton Lynch perform in a game this season, considering that he is a part of the third team now. In reality, unless both Keenum and Kelly are hurt which would be worse case scenario he will be benched for the rest of the season or brought into a blow out game.

Josey Jewell

Josey Jewell, inside linebacker out of Iowa, had an immense impact in the first half of Thursday’s game. Totaling 7 total tackles (5 solo, 2 assisted) in thirty-minutes of game time, YES JUST THIRTY MINUTES. If you still haven’t heard of Josey, take note, he is leading the Broncos with 20 total tackles this pre-season.

Jewell, who is outperforming all other LB’s in the pre-season, will secure a spot on the 53-man roster, and will probably be a rotational ILB throughout the season. Only time will tell though with the roster being released on September, 1st.

Jeff Holland

Undrafted outside linebacker Jeff Holland has been a great acquisition for the Broncos this offseason. Coming into Thursday he was tied for the team lead in sacks. On Thursday, he continued to excite adding another sack to the resume making him the team leader. Holland forced opposing QB Mike Glennon to cower deeper into the pocket causing him to extend the play.

Very rare that an undrafted rookie leads the team in sacks in the preseason. In a rather surprising move, however, the Broncos announced that they were releasing Holland this morning. Just too much depth at the edge position. They would love to add him to the practice squad, but it seems highly unlikely that he makes it through waivers.

De’Angelo Henderson

Coming into his second year De’Angelo Henderson has a lot to prove battling for the second running-back position. With the quick excellence of Royce Freeman and Philip Lindsay, there is a substantial competition for spots.

One ability that Henderson brings to the table that Lindsay does not is his keen ability to acquire yardage after contact. This strength was shown off in Thursday’s game on his second attempt. De’Angelo avoided a tackle attempt, then carries a Cardinal defender for 2-yards on an 8-yard run.

Unfortunately, however, with so much depth at the position, Elway and the Broncos waived the fan favorite on Saturday morning. He will almost certainly land on his feet with another squad.

https://twitter.com/DHenderson31/status/1035923288248074240

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Broncos performed very well this preseason. Elway was able to find many promising late round picks in the draft that should benefit them in the season. They finished breaking even at 2-2 with 2 road wins and 0 home wins. The first game of their season kicks off at home on Sunday, September, 9th against Seattle!