After watching the 12th practice of the Denver Broncos training camp, there were three players who made an amazing impression on us, making it to roster cutdown day. Every year, players form NFL teams out of nowhere, and the Broncos aren’t immune to this phenomenon either.
We may have three surprise players on the defensive side of the ball this season. The Broncos are putting up a hard fight defensively with his line and edge rushers. Let’s get to his three players in those groups who could make the roster when the club announced his first 53-man roster.
Jonathan Harris | DL
The starters on the defensive line are pretty much aligned with Dre’Mont Jones, DJ Jones, and DeShawn Williams. Rotation depth positions are not set, and there is a fair amount of dogfighting going on in camp to get the backup role.
Harris often ran in the first-team defense early in Tuesday’s scrimmage and made plays when doing so. He showed his ability to hold his ground against runs and was able to penetrate against his passes.
In the 1st rep vs. 2nd team offense, Harris performed a great swim move to get into the backfield quickly and flush quarterback Josh Johnson out of his pocket. It may have been a sack in the actual match. With Sunday’s defensive line he’s in the rotation, it’s no surprise that Harris is the first defender off the bench.
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Marquis Spencer | DL
A seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft, Spencer was on the practice team last season. He was called up in Week 17 and saw some playing time on defense, but this offseason is asking for more.
Spencer flashed several times during practices during the team period and seemed to be able to handle the increased workload with the rotation of the defensive line. In one rep, he and Baron Browning blew up his play as he went 11-11.
Spencer has also outperformed McTelvin Azim in scrimmage and was able to make a very good selection for the third round on 30 August. For the players vying for the final roster spot, it’s as impressive as one might think.
Spencer wasn’t perfect in practice either, as he was knocked to the ground after one scrimmage. He’s going to experience some of those things as he grows up, but overall he was a surprise player.
Jonathan Combo | OLB
The top four edge rushers are Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory (PUP list), Baron Browning, and Nick Bonito. However, Gregory’s surgery created the need to keep more edge rushers out of the gate while he returned to football form.
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That extra player is most likely Kongbo. He has had an interesting start to his professional football career, spending time in his league in Canadian football. A series of injuries has slowed his growth, but he’s talented if he stays healthy.
Kongbo was impressive, attacking every drill much harder than the other players in the edge rushing group and receiving coaching well. He also looked more explosive than expected.
During the team’s training, Kongbo made some great plays. He used his hands well to keep the offensive lineman off his body and was quickly in the backfield on the next play to disrupt the attack.
I saw Kongbo lined up off the ball. He quickly got in front of the quarterback and blocked the offense. This could have led to a sack in real game situations.
Rush linebackers Jonathon Cooper and Christopher Allen, two others competing for playing time, hardly practiced when they returned from their injuries. But Cooper had only done some training.
If the Broncos intend to put both players on injured reserve, Combo will be the last one. At least the Broncos could try to get the combo into the practice squad.
Preseason will tell how much progress these three players have made. Be extra careful over the next three weeks.
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