Over tonight, tomorrow and early Saturday, I will be writing 9 quick posts about the final position battles that were settled Thursday night. We'll start with some of the biggest preseason flashers. Wide Receiver, being one of the deepest groups on the Broncos also had one of the more intense battles going on in the preseason.
The #1 receiver slot is sewed up by Lloyd, and Royal is going to try his hand at the #2 spot this year. Decker has worked his way to the starting slot receiver, and in the background Demaryius Thomas is recovering from Achilles surgery on the PUP, for his planned return midseason. Behind these three roster spots Willis was running as Lloyd's relief at the X position, and he has been running quality NFL routes all preseason long. These players can be viewed as solid locks barring injury, taking up four total roster spots.
Projected Wide Receiver slots up for grabs: 2
- Eron Riley: Riley has had a good preseason, and has good size and speed for the wideout position. He has shown good hands as well, and has drew some targets in the redzone from both Quinn and Tebow. But in his last chance to shine during the preseason he made 3 very solid plays in the passing game, including a difficult catch of a defensed ball, that he got downfield with some superb YAC running. Projection: Has earned one of the final two slots.
- Britt Davis: Davis has been coming along adequately this preseason, but he has shown not to have the greatest hands yet, and in his final preseason game, a ball that bounced right off his numbers led to a 3 and out drive. Projection: Waived on cutdown day.
- David Anderson: Early in the preseason he was doing a good job of presenting his numbers as a slot receiver, and he continued the trend of catching tough balls in traffic, and taking the hard hits. he started out returning kicks but has apparently been demoted from that duty going forward. Projection: Difficult cut on Saturday.
- DeAndre Goodwin: Rookie camp fodder early on, he improved with every game, and in the final preseason game drew some eyes to his game with a huge hit on a special teams return. He finished the evening with 3 solid plays in the passing game. Projection: Edges out Anderson for final WR spot on 54.
- Greg Orton: Orton had one missed pass play, but also recorded a solid block . Projection: Waived on cutdown day.
- Jamel Hamler: Hamler was a late addition to the preseason squad, and never really looked to have caught onto the offense completely. He wasn't getting open and didn't earn any targets late in the final preseason game. Projection: Waived on cutdown day.
So that gives us a 6 man receiving corps of Lloyd, Royal, Decker, Willis, Riley and Goodwin, with D.Thomas to be added at a later date. But these are just my projections. Who do you have us keeping and cutting come Saturday?