Broncos Get Badly Shortchanged In This NFL Roster Ranking

The Denver Broncos went 14-3 last season, and they came within a field goal of making it to the Super Bowl. You wouldn’t know it from this particular roster ranking, though, as Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder of ESPN did a piece rating the roster of every team in the NFL and the Broncos somehow came up eighth. 

It’s an interesting exercise given the discrepancy between where Denver ranked and where the Broncos finished. The writers also flagged the strengths, weaknesses and a couple of other factors for each roster, so let’s go there and see what they identified and why it matters. 

Biggest strength: Offensive line

This one’s a no-brainer, although they could have gone with the linebacking group as a whole before Jonathon Cooper was arrested twice and is now facing a possible suspension as well as a trial. A lot of teams talk about building up their offensive line, but the Broncos have backed up their talk with money and extensions, and as a result they have one of the best offensive lines in football. 

Biggest weakness: Tight End

Another good choice, although the running back group is also in play, regardless of what J.K. Dobbins says about how he’s going to stay healthy and put up big numbers. It’s still surprising that the Broncos mostly chose to ignore this problem, and one of the most controversial choices Denver made on offense was to trade for receiver Jaylen Waddle rather than addressing this position more comprehensively.  

X factor for 2026: QB Bo Nix

Another no-brainer. Nix’s situation is still complicated after the back and forth he had with coach Sean Payton had after breaking his ankle in the divisional round of the playoffs. He needs to be mobile, and we need to see it on the field to give the Broncos a chance at repeating in the AFC West and going on another deep playoff run. If he’s not healthy, this low ranking becomes a lot easier to justify. 

Nonstarter to know: Edge rusher Jonah Elliss  

Sneaky-good choice, especially with Cooper’s status in limbo for at least the next few weeks. Elliss was supposed to move inside as an experiment, but now he’ll have to step up and fill some very big shoes. We’ll be able to get a better read on his role once the Cooper situation is resolved, but at this point we have to assume that the Broncos will be moving on from their star linebacker.