2026 Denver Broncos Roster: Worst to Best Positions, Part 2

We're back for Part 2 of the 2026 Denver Broncos roster preview.

If you haven't, take a look now at Part 1 of the Broncos roster and the first five position groups who represent the worst on the team.

In reality, Denver has one of the best rosters in the NFL this year, with few holes when looking at their starting lineup. The only issues are ones of depth, in which multiple positions are susceptible to injuries.

But now we're into the best groups; let's see how it all shakes out.

6. Specialists

These guys are ranked so high mostly because of Wil Lutz. The dude has been clutch and consistent.

He's been better percentage-wise than he was in New Orleans, where he was very good for the Saints and Sean Payton. With Denver he's made 89.0% of his field goal attempts vs. 84.9 in 'Nawlins. He's also missed only two extra points in Denver of 116 attempts, and hasn't missed one in two years. Plus, Lutz was tied for fifth in touchbacks (21) last year.

Next to him in the kicking game is Jeremy Crawshaw at punter. Crawshaw was mostly mediocre last year, though he was just a rookie. His 47.6 yards per punt were 15th, and net yards per punt (41.1) were worse at 21st. And 12.0% of his punts resulted in touchbacks, which was 4th-most.

Crawshaw was passable, even if the Broncos used a draft pick on him, and he will hopefully improve this year.

5. Quarterback

Some folks said they thought quarterback should be one of the worst positions on the Broncos because there's Bo Nix and the drop off from him to Jarrett Stidham is steeper than The Diamond on Long's Peak.

But that's not how quarterback in the NFL works today.

Back in the 90s, backup quarterbacks were good enough to come in and win some games for teams. Remember Bubby Brister winning four games when John Elway was injured in '98?

Now offenses are so specialized and quarterbacks are so focal to game plans that it's boom or bust with one guy.

So, the QBs ranked this high is to say Bo Nix is a pretty damn good quarterback. I have him rated as the 18th-best QB this year, and think he could improve to around 13th this season. And when he's on, he's great. He's the best QB when it comes to negative play rate, and he was 9th-best in the league when blitzed last season.

And where he can be really deadly is when he breaks the pocket and runs or makes throws on the move.

But Nix has areas to improve too. His deep throwing, intermediate throwing, and throws over the middle are weaknesses. Here's hoping he can take a leap in Year 3 and/or that Davis Webb calling the plays helps him improve as a passer.

"Stiddy" is a decent enough backup but not good enough to win any games. And Sam Ehlinger? Yeah. He's one of the quarterbacks.

Like with every NFL team, the Broncos need their starting QB to stay healthy. Here's hoping he does and only improves this season.

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4. Interior Defensive Line

Zach Allen, am I right?

Allen is the anchor of the interior defensive line in Denver. In 2024 he was named Second-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press. He had a career-high 8.5 sacks with 40 QB hits and a safety that year. But last season he was even better; Allen earned First-Team All-Pro, led the NFL with 47 QB hits, had 7.0 sacks and was a game-wrecker from the inside.

Next to him will be Malcolm Roach at left defensive end and D.J. Jones at nose tackle. While his numbers were a bit more understated, Jones had one of his best as a professional last year, too; career-highs with 3.0 sacks and 6 QB hits. And Roach's 4.0 sacks were also his career best.

He'll be taking over for John Franklin-Myers who was great (7.5 sacks) and his loss will hurt the unit slightly.

But Denver's also been investing there as of late.

Eyioma Uwazurike was drafted in 2022 and he played a career-high 17 games last year and totaled 3.5 sacks of his own.

Of course, the sacks were flowing like beer from the taps of Odell Brewing for the Broncos last year; they set a new team record of 68.0, surpassing 2024's then-team record of 62.0.

Then there's Tyler Onyedim, the 3rd round pick for the Broncos in this year's draft. Of note, Onyedim and Uwazurike played together at Iowa State in 2021 and the elder was like a big brother to the younger. There are also a whole bunch of younger guys who make this one of the best positional groupings on the roster.

3. EDGE

Nik Bonitto is a bonafide superstar. He's the best EDGE the Broncos have had since Von Miller, and he's the only one who scored a touchdown on a pick and a fumble return in the same year outside of the Vonster.

Last year, Bonitto's 14.0 sacks were 5th-most in the NFL. Somewhat incredibly, three of the guys ahead of him play defensive end. The only EDGE with more sacks last year was Brian Burns of the New York Giants with 16.5.

Bonitto is incredibly explosive and gets around offensive tackles with ease at times. Again, very similar to how Miller used to speed around guys for sacks. He can also power rush and swim guys, but most of the time he can literally just run around guys.

It's hard to pick what was his best play. The swat on the 2-point conversion against the Commanders is probably it (2:30 in this video), but he also forced two sacks of Josh Allen in the Divisional Round win.

Opposite of Bonitto on the edge is likely Jonathon Cooper, who's gone from hero to zero this offseason. He has an ongoing domestic violence case which is gross, but he hasn't been disciplined yet so it looks like he will start. If he does, the Broncos are set up well. If he's suspended or for some reason released, Denver will be in some trouble.

Jonah Elliss is decent, and so is Dondrea Tillman, but there's a major drop off from Cooper to them. It's even bigger from Bonitto to Tillman or Elliss, and Bonitto was injured in practice on Tuesday, though he returned to practice in limited capacity on Wednesday.

2. Cornerback

The Broncos cornerbacks are deeper than any team, right? Maybe the only one deeper is the Philadelphia Eagles with Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Riq Woolen etc.

But I still would take the Broncos with Patrick Surtain–the best cornerback in the NFL—Riley Moss, Ja'Quan McMillian, and Jahdae Barron. Oh and Kris Abrams-Draine.

Surtain is a generational player. We are witnessing greatness every time he takes the field. Consider he was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and only four other cornerbacks have won the award. All of them are in the Hall of Fame.

Surtain is the definition of lockdown cornerback. He shuts down every opponent's best receiver every week. And his pick in the Packers game not only swung the tide of that contest, it was one of the best interceptions I've ever seen.

Riley Moss is still a great cornerback, even if he was called for the most pass interference penalties of anyone in the league last year. He's getting picked on by opposing quarterbacks because Surtain is shutting down the other side.

Then there's Ja'Quan McMillian, who's an absolute beast. His blitz to sack Patrick Mahomes sealed the Broncos win over the Chiefs last November. And his pick of Josh Allen late in the Divisional Round playoff win saved the Broncos season.

McMillian has been so good as the slot guy, the Broncos couldn't get Barron—their first round pick last year—on the field.

Barron should be very good himself, but we'll have to wait and see how good. Denver smartly brought McMillian back this year.

1. Offensive Line

The only position group better than the cornerbacks is the offensive line because they're hands-down the best offensive line in the NFL today. They were best for basically the entire 2024 season, and for the entirety of the 2025 season. Coming into 2026, they retain that title partly because they've played together for so long.

Going back to 2023, four of the five starters—Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Quinn Meinerz, and Mike McGlinchey—have played together (almost) the entire time. Powers was injured mid-season last year and Alex Palczewski stepped in. Then the last two years it's been Luke Wattenburg at center.

Those six are great together. There's a fantastic mix of power in the run game—see Meinerz and Powers—and great blocking on the outside by the tackles.

Bolles has been phenomenal the last few years, including earning First-Team All-Pro last year for the first time in his career. Meinerz has also been a star at right guard, though he was bullied a bit in the AFC Championship Game. He's still coming off back-to-back First-Team All-Pro selections.

Sean Payton said these 2026 Broncos are good enough to win Super Bowl LIX. And part of that is winning in the trenches.

“Yeah, this is one of them,” Payton said on Wednesday when asked if the 2026 Broncos can win a Super Bowl. “I think you have to play good defense to be one of those teams. You have to get good quarterback play, to be good on the offensive and defensive lines. You have to be well coached. I think we’re all of the above.”

There's no doubt part of Nix's success has to do with the fantastic protection he gets from the line. And J.K. Dobbins ran wild the first half of last season due to the great blocking and run lanes they were creating, too.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.

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