2026 Denver Broncos Roster: Worst to Best Positions, Part 1

The 2026 Denver Broncos roster is one of the best in the NFL.

PFSN grades Denver out as the 4th-best roster in the league going into 2026.

But because of the salary cap which drives parody in the NFL, no team can be 100% bulletproof.

This worst-to-best list of positions for the Broncos looks at where they're most susceptible to stumbles if players are injured. Part 2 will continue to the list and end on the position group where the Broncos are strongest.

11. Inside Linebacker

The Denver Broncos not only didn't improve at inside linebacker, they got worse there. Dre Greenlaw got cut, albeit it was a good move. But now Denver has less depth at the position.

Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad—who got a big raise—are the starters at the position as of now. Strnad is taking a huge step up in terms of responsibility and playing time, and he earned it the way he played last year filling in for Greenlaw and in 2024 for Singleton. Now both have to be stellar all year long.

Behind them are Red Murdock, Karene Reid, Lavelle Bailey, Jordan Turner and Torean York. They're all extremely inexperienced and Denver's in real trouble if either Singleton or Strnad are injured.

Even then, neither of them are great at covering tight ends, so expect the inside linebackers to give up more yards there. It's become one of the only consistent weak spots of Vance Joseph's defense. Of note: Strnad earned a 73.8 coverage grade last year from Pro Football Focus, which was 10th best among ILBs, but it was in a limited amount of coverage snaps.

10. Tight End

Is Evan Engram going to round into his 2023 shape, or are we stuck with a mediocre starting tight end in Denver again?

Way back in 2023, Engram was one of the best tight ends in the game that year. He totaled a crazy 114 receptions for 963 yards and 4 touchdowns; all of them are career-highs.

Since, Engram got injured in 2024, then played a full season last year with the Broncos but only had 50 catches for 461 yards and 1 score.

His careeer 17-game averages are 75 receptions for 738 yards and 4 TDs; if he's closer to those numbers than his 2025 output, it's a win for the Broncos.

Don't forget all the guys they re-signed behind Engram too. There's Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull and Nate Adkins. None of which are anything special. Then the Broncos also have last year's rookie Caleb Lohner at 6'7" tall, and this year's rookie Justin Joly.

Joly could be the heir apparent to Engram, whose contract comes to an end this year. I can't wait to see what Joly can bring to the Broncos. It would be awesome if he got some work this year, but Sean Payton historically doesn't like to play rookies much, sometimes gaining trust of them in the second half of the year. See: Pat Bryant last year.

9. Safety

Talanoa Hufanga was an unsung hero and MVP of the defense last year.

The dude played lights-out, especially when stopping the run at or behind the line of scrimmage repeatedly. He was second behind only Singleton's 135 total tackles with 106 of his own, and also tallied 2.o sacks, a forced fumble, and defensed 11 passes.

While Hufanga is the "strong safety," Brandon Jones is solid as the "free safety" for the Broncos. (The team doesn't denote them that way, even though that's what they'd be called in other defenses because of how each of them play.)

Jones totaled 78 tackles with 7 passes defensed and a pick last year, but also tore his pectoral muscle late.

Together, they're a decent duo, though Hufanga carried them last year and ended up making Second-Team All-Pro.

They're ranked so far down this list because there's very little depth behind Hufanga and Jones, much like the inside linebackers position grouping. P.J. Locke was the next man up when Jones got injured last year and in 2024, but he's in Dallas now.

That leaves Devon Key and JL Skinner as the next line of defense for the safeties. Not great, Bob.

Denver's going to have one of the best defenses in the NFL again this year, but if they lose a starting linebacker or safety to injury, they're in immediate trouble.

8. Running Back

Running back improved slightly with the drafting of Jonah Coleman, which will give the Broncos insurance if J.K. Dobbins goes down due to injury again this year.

Dobbins was the most pleasant surprise on offense last year until that Lisfranc injury from a hip drop tackle (that wasn't called correctly). He was a top-10 running back in terms of yards up to that Week 10 injury, and his mix of tough inside running with RJ Harvey's great outside burst and hands gave Denver a decent enough run game to truly compete.

Once Dobbins went down, Denver's run game suffered because Harvey wasn't good enough between the tackles. That left opposing defensive coordinators to bring the safeties up closer to the line of scrimmage because—as James Palmer explained last year—with no running game, opposing defensive coaches weren't scared of Bo beating them deep.

Now, if Coleman pans out they'll have a bigger back to fill in for Dobbins on inside runs, and let Harvey do his thing outside the tackles and through the air.

Good on George Paton for revamping the running back position the last two years.

He brought in Dobbins, who was better than expected last year and was on pace for a career year in yards, carries, and first downs. Yes, Dobbins was always a gamble to be lost to injury because he's never played an entire NFL season. But his rushing ability helped Denver get into first in the AFC West, a position they never relinquished.

Paton also drafted RJ Harvey last year. Denver could've taken Omarion Hampton in the first round but added to their deep defensive backfield with Jahdae Barron, then found Harvey in the second round. Harvey had a better rookie season than Hampton in basically every stat category and has a bright future.

Now he's drafted Coleman, who looks like a bigger and likely slower version of Dobbins. But a guy that can likely spell Dobbins earlier in the year to keep tread on the tires, and fill in if needed later in the season.

7. Wide Receiver

Speaking of improving a position, Paton's been focused in on wide receiver the last few years. Still, as Denver's gone after receivers in the draft, it's taken time for them to catch on in the NFL.

Last season, Mike Clay said Denver had the worst receivers in the NFL. And who could blame him?

Outside of Sutton, the receivers were a bunch of young, unproven guys. Troy Franklin improved some, but then had too many drops. Marvin Mims rose in 2024, but fell off a bit in 2025. And Pat Bryant was a bit of pleasant surprise as the season went on but he had four games with zero targets early in the season.

Now, Denver has all those guys with more experience under their belt, plus Jaylen Waddle.

Waddle is the new No. 1 and Sutton is No. 2. That shows how much the unit has improved. It's moved into the top-10 among receiver groups. In fact, Yahoo! ranked them No. 4 earlier today.

Waddle will revolutionize the position for Denver and Bo Nix. His mere presence will mean more open looks for not only Sutton but Franklin, Mims, and Bryant too.

The wideouts could've been ranked a little higher in this positional list, but I'd really like to see Franklin or Mims take that actual, big time leap this season. Will one of them do so?

Next Up

Part 2 of the 2026 Denver Broncos Roster: Worst to Best Positions will have the Broncos top 6 position groups, ending with their best one. That will publish later this week.

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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.