As the trading deadline begins to approach, rumors of who could go and for what are spreading like wildfire. Just this week alone, it has been a who's-who of the best of the Denver Broncos mentioned: Brandon Lloyd, D.J. Williams, Brian Dawkins, and even Champ Bailey all apparently or at the very least rumored to be receiving attention from elsewhere in the league. Tick-tock.
This isn't the place for rumors, what I want to talk about over the rest of this upcoming weekend is who does the team have currently on the roster. Who is the homegrown talent, what exactly is Denver sitting on and what do they have in the garage?
Some names you are going to know about already, some names you will not know about so much, some you may have flat out forgotten about. They'll all be here from here through Sunday.
This one is so obvious that he become not obvious, a weekly perennial member of the injury report, Marcus Thomas just kind of slipped into the lineup to little ballyhoo. Now, after playing in one game he leads the Broncos defensive tackles in tackles with six and two assists.
It is a rare thing in Denver to see a defensive tackle making tackles as of late. If Thomas can stay healthy, he's on track to exceed the fifty tackle mark which is encouraging. To put that in prospective only five Broncos had more than fifty tackles last season and the leading defensive lineman (Jamal Williams) had 31. Thomas last season finished with 30.
If Thomas continues to play like a man on a mission he can ease pressure on middle linebacker Joe Mays and Mays can become more of the wrecking ball that he was last season.
Quan Cosby isn't quite the household name that he deserves to be, but soon he will be. Picked up in week three with just five days on the team, Cosby made an immediate impact on punt returns as Denver faced the Tennessee Titans.
His first punt return went for 30-yards, gave the Broncos excellent field position at the 50-yard line and set Denver up for a score. Cosby was humble as pie following the loss though, stating that individual accomplishments mean nothing without a win.
Cosby's also a wide receiver, which puts him third on the official depth chart and he could fall even farther down as Eddie Royal and Demaryius Thomas get healthier. Coaches should be able to find a spot for Cosby as he is averaging 27-yards per return on kickoffs and gives the teams fragile receivers one less chance to get hurt.
Eyes rolled all over Broncos Country as the new regime did something that the old regime did too much of-- signed a former New England Patriot. If I asked you who had the second most sacks for the Broncos and was tied for most interceptions would you be able to answer Jonathan Wilhite?
Two sacks (second on team), one interception (tied for first), these are the times in Denver, but with just five games played there is a lot of football left. Wilhite has played in one less game than both Andre Goodman and Cassius Vaughn yet has accumulated only two less tackles (plus the aforementioned two sacks and interception, though Vaughn also has one interception).
Wilhite's numbers thus far scream anything other than mediocre though and there may be more than just a depth chart disruption on the rise for the twenty-seven year old cornerback.
We will hit you with part two and three tomorrow, so stay tuned and in the mean time let us hear it in the comments. Do you agree or disagree? Who should we include in the next two of the series? In the meantime, be sure to like Mile High Report on Facebook right here.