Broncos position battles: Revealing the winners from 2019 preseason

The final roster revealed which Broncos won the position battles we've been monitoring all summer long.

Throughout the preseason, I highlighted certain battles to watch in each of the Denver Broncos' games. Now that the team has cut down to its 53-man roster, we can declare official winners and what each guy did to win the job. 

So who won the key battles, and more importantly, how did they win those battles?

Backup quarterback

All preseason this was a battle between Drew Lock and Kevin Hogan, until Lock went down with an injury. At the point, the battle switched to Brett Rypien vs. Kevin Hogan or a quarterback from another team. 

With both Rypien and Hogan cut from the Broncos (Rypien brought back to the practice squad) and a different quarterback on the roster, the winner here was clear.

Winner: Brandon Allen

Allen won the job with how he looked in the preseason, especially in the Broncos' fourth preseason game vs. the Rams. The stats aren’t kind without context, but two of Allen's five interceptions fall at the feet of the receiver. 

Allen's preseason interceptions aren't ideal, but Hogan threw three picks himself, while Rypien threw two in far less playing time than the other two. Allen is still growing, and his positives were much more noteworthy than Hogan’s or Rypien's, and he had more notes in the plus column than those two did. Allen won the job just as much as Hogan and Rypien lost it.

Defensive line

There was a pitched battle between DeMarcus Walker and DeShawn Williams all preseason long. Both players looked good in practice and in the games, with Williams showing a bit more consistency. 

However, when it came down to making a play in-game, Walker was able to do just that while Williams wasn’t. Denver coaches liked what they saw out of Williams, but they went with the higher upside player in Walker.

Winner: DeMarcus Walker

That wasn’t the only battle that raged on the D-line this summer. Zach Kerr ended up battling for a spot, which he lost because of the play of Williams and Mike Purcell, and when Kerr was let go, those two battled for the final spot. 

Winner: Mike Purcell

Williams was consistent throughout the preseason, but Purcell got hot at the right time and was dominant against the Rams and great against the Cardinals. Those two games were enough to catapult him over Williams and onto the roster.

Defensive back

There were a couple battles going on in the defensive backfield. Dymonte Thomas had the fourth safety spot locked up, only to get hurt and put on injured reserve for the year. That opened the door for Trey Marshall and Su’a Cravens to get the last two DB spots, but neither played very well in the preseason.

Winner: Trey Marshall

Marshall managed to land the fourth spot due to his special teams play, while Cravens was cut.

For the other depth spots for their defensive backs, no cornerbacks stepped up and Cravens played his way off the roster. This led to the Broncos and getting two second-year players that missed most of their respective rookie seasons last year. 

Winner(s): Duke Dawson and Davontae Harris

The Broncos traded for Dawson, and signed Harris, both of whom are versatile defensive backs, which the Broncos value, and offer key special teams play. Both players came from teams that had a tough corner depth chart to crack because of the other players in it.

Punt returner

It was clear the Broncos didn’t have anyone they could trust. Brendan Langley, Nick Williams and Kelvin McKnight all muffed a punt or two, which hurt their chances to make the roster. Devontae Jackson looked okay as a kick returner, and Trinity Benson only got chances in practice. No one stepped up on the roster. 

Winner: Diontae Spencer

The Broncos looked over outside rosters and saw the Steelers release Spencer, who was one of the best preseason returners this summer. Spencer was an upgrade over whatever the Broncos had. With other returners on hand, Pittsburgh chose to waive Spencer, so Denver claimed him.

O-line depth

There were a lot of battles for the depth on the Broncos' offensive line because it was such a mess. Jake Rodgers was a right tackle who couldn’t play left tackle. Ryan Crozier and Jake Brendal struggled a lot at center. Sam Jones didn’t show the consistent growth needed. 

Undrafted rookies John Leglue and Quinn Bailey had their moments, but they were still a work in progress. There wasn’t anyone who really stood out, outside of Elijah Wilkinson and Austin Schlottmann, and they happened to play well enough to make the roster, though both struggled quite a bit.

Winner(s): Austin Schlottman and Corey Levin

With Schlottmann making the 53 over Sam Jones, the final winner was Corey Levin, a waiver claim formerly of the Titans. With no one else stepping up, and not many options hitting the open market, the Broncos really dug to find Levin. 

You can see flashes of potential, but there is a lot that he needs to be worked on. If you want to know more about him, I have an article up that goes over the pros and cons of the Broncos' new additions, including Levin.

Tight end

It's a shame that no one really won here simply because of injuries. Austin Fort was poised to win a roster spot before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Jake Butt was never able to get healthy and Bug Howard also got hurt and was lost for the season. 

The injuries led to the Broncos keeping only three tight ends on the roster with Noah Fant, Troy Fumagalli and Jeff Heuerman. 

Winner: Injury bug

Denver claimed Andrew Beck off waivers, but word is, he will be used exclusively in a fullback role, which is why I did not include him here as a winner.

Linebacker depth

The final battle that raged throughout camp and preseason was the depth inside linebackers. This was a growing concern with Todd Davis, Josey Jewell and Joe Jones all getting banged up, with Davis and Jones posed to miss time into the regular season. 

With Denver's depth, no one really stood out except for Alexander Johnson, but even he had his issues. Undrafted rookie Josh Watson looked solid, but had plenty of issues. 

Winner(s): Alexander Johnson, Keishawn Bierria, Corey Nelson

Johnson won one of the jobs, and Keishawn Bierria won the other, at least from players already on the roster.

I'm not sure what the Broncos saw in Bierria. Watching over his preseason, Bierria was worse than Watson on both defense and special teams and didn’t bring the versatility Watson does with also being able to play the edge. 

Another winner was Nelson, whom the Broncos brought back after departing via free agency last year. This brings the Broncos' off-ball linebackers to six, but will likely go back down to four or five once Davis and Jones come back. 

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