A Broncos depth chart projection, updated days before roster cuts

Like it or not, as inevitable as death or taxes, roster cuts are coming.

The Broncos' 90-man roster will be trimmed to 75 over the next few days, and the final 53 will be determined by Saturday, August 30th. We're tracking every cut and every roster move, but we're also going to be projecting the moves to come.

With that in mind, I present my updated depth chart projection.

Before the first week of the preseason (one week into training camp), I had players ranked differently. I had Brennan Clay as the fourth running back; after breakout preseason performances by Juwan Thompson and, to a lesser degree, Kapri Bibbs, now Clay doesn't make the team. In fact, I shuffled the running back position completely. Ronnie Hillman has looked fine, and C.J. Anderson has looked good, but Juwan Thompson has looked explosive. Since none of them have a ton of NFL experience, I ranked them by my eyes, this offseason. Hillman edged out the others due to his impact in the passing game; he has 16 receptions this preseason while Anderson and Thompson have seven combined.

The other incredibly difficult decision came at defensive tackle. I cut a defensive player at another position to add another DT, which wasn't easy, but even then, how do you choose three players from Kevin Vickerson, Mitch Unrein, Sione Fua, and Marvin Austin? None are practice squad eligible. Unrein and Fua are the Broncos' top two ranked players, according to ProFootballFocus.com, with the only grades above +4.0. Vickerson was an effective starter a year ago, and you don't just throw away guys with proven starting NFL DT experience. And Austin has emerged this offseason. I ended up cutting Vickerson due to health (and penalty) concerns, but I kind of feel sick about it. Ask me again in five minutes and I might cut someone else.

Who did I cut to make room for a DT? It was between Kenny Anunike, Steven Johnson and Duke Ihenacho. Anunike has shone in camp and preseason, but he's practice squad eligible. I stuck him on there, crossing my fingers he sneaks through the waiver wire.

I had Derek Wolfe ahead of Malik Jackson at defensive end, but after three preseason games and an impressive run at the end of last year, I think Jackson deserves the starting nod.

I nearly cut Zac Dysert, but ended up keeping him over Matt Paradis, who is more likely to be able to be sneaked onto Denver's practice squad.

This depth chart was incredibly difficult.

There are a host of other minor changes, and I've noted the changes in italics next to the players' name, and noted the cuts below the table. Again, these are changes from my previous projection, not the team's official depth chart.

Broncos depth chart projection

Cuts from last time: DT Kevin Vickerson, DE Kenny Anunike (practice squad), C Matt Paradis (practice squad), RB Brennan Clay. Still cut from last time: CB Tony Carter, OT Winston Justice

Agree? Disagree? Let me know how your depth chart differs in the comments!