The Broncos are built to chase big things in 2026, but that kind of ambition always brings pressure with it. Denver has a roster that can talk about Super Bowl aspirations without sounding ridiculous.
Still, not every name on the depth chart is in the same position. A few players are staring at a season that could decide a lot about their future.
Alex Singleton is one of the clearest examples. Denver’s decision to bring him back was already hard to explain, and the numbers from 2025 don’t help the case.
Pro Football Reference says he allowed a 122.9 passer rating in coverage, while giving up 629 yards and four touchdowns. Over his last 19 regular season games, dating back to the start of the 2024 season, he has just four tackles for loss and four quarterback hits.
The tackle totals still look decent on paper, but the impact beyond that has dropped off sharply. He’s been a liability in coverage and hasn’t been getting into the backfield.
The Broncos could move on financially after 2026, though if this season goes badly enough, they may not wait that long. If a linebacker trade target surfaces during the year and Singleton still looks unplayable, an in-season change would not be hard to imagine.
Troy Franklin is in a different kind of spot, but the pressure is real all the same. He finished second on the team in receptions, yards, and touchdowns last year behind Courtland Sutton, yet the arrival of Jaylen Waddle has pushed him down the pecking order.
The Oregon link with Bo Nix is there, but the Broncos brought in Waddle for a reason, and Pat Bryant also had a strong offseason. Right now, Franklin looks like he could be no better than the fifth option in the passing game behind Sutton, Waddle, Bryant, and Marvin Mims Jr.
He’s listed behind Sutton, Waddle, and Mims on the current depth chart. The bigger concern is that he hasn’t shown a true calling card; he doesn’t stand out in one area, and he wasn’t a consistent separator last season.
The trend line is heading the wrong way.
J.K. Dobbins brings a completely different conversation.
He’s the kind of player people naturally pull for, but the injury history keeps hanging over him. Last season, he played only 10 games because of a foot injury that ended his year, even though he was on pace for more than 1,300 rushing yards.
Denver still gave him a two-year deal, but that contract can be ripped up after one season. The Broncos also used a fourth-round pick on Jonah Coleman, who profiles similarly to Dobbins.
If Dobbins can’t stay healthy again in 2026, Coleman could wind up in a bigger role than expected, possibly even as more of a 1B option instead of Dobbins handling the bulk of the carries.
Ben Powers may be the softest case on this list, but he still belongs here. He took a pay cut this offseason, and the Broncos responded by re-signing backup Alex Palczewski to a two-year deal and drafting Kage Casey.
Powers has one year left on his contract and missed roughly half of 2025 with a bicep injury. He’s also the only current starting lineman not under contract beyond 2026, which matters because Denver is going to have to keep at least one of its five offensive line starters affordable at some point.
If Powers had played all 17 games and stayed steady, the Broncos might not have made those other line moves. Unless he has a major breakout, a new deal in Denver next offseason doesn’t look like a realistic path.
In Other News...
Broncos Rookie RB Is Already Pressing A Bigger Role
Jonah Coleman arrived in Denver with the kind of profile that tends to earn immediate trust from coaches: a fourth-round pick with a balanced running style, the size to handle a physical workload and the pass protection chops to stay on the field in more than just obvious rushing situations. For a Broncos backfield that has already dealt with injury concerns elsewhere, that versatility gives him a real path to playing time before long.
What makes Coleman even more intriguing is how broad that path could become as the season unfolds. Scouts and executives see a runner who can contribute in multiple ways, and that kind of skill set usually leads to a role that grows by the week if the player handles the early opportunities well. The Broncos do not have to force it, but they may not be able to keep him in a small package for very long either. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Still Have One Defensive Concern Entering Week 1
Less than a week before their regular-season opener, the Broncos were still looking around for defensive help, bringing in four players for tryouts as they worked through the final stretch of roster decisions. Dean Clark, Jack Henderson, Jack Dingle and Emany Johnson all got a look as Denver continued to assess the back end of the defense and the middle of the field, two spots where the team has more questions than answers.
The fact that none of the four had been signed by the time of the report suggests the Broncos are not rushing into a move, even with safety and inside linebacker still standing out as relative depth concerns. It is the kind of late-August roster housekeeping that can say plenty about how a team feels about its current group, and for Denver it leaves one defensive subplot worth monitoring as Week 1 approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Cap Flexibility Just Raised The Stakes For Their Next Core Decisions
The Broncos enter the next phase of roster building with real breathing room, and that matters because the choices coming over the next year are no longer being made under cap stress. Denver currently has about $23.99 million in space for the 2026 season, good for fifth in the league, a position that gives the front office more options as it weighs extensions, free agency and the kind of move-by-move housekeeping that can shape a contenders window.
There is still some drag on the books, including roughly $5.984 million in dead money tied mostly to former linebacker Dre Greenlaw, along with smaller cap hits from players on the practice squad, injured reserve and the commissioners exempt list. The bigger point is what comes next: Denver is also projected to be in a healthy spot for 2027, and with that kind of flexibility, the stakes only rise for how aggressively the Broncos choose to lock in their core before the market starts pushing harder. [Read more 🡒]