Are there holes in the Denver Broncos No Fly Zone?

The cumulative season grades over at Pro Football Focus appear to show some potential problem areas for the Denver Broncos in their top ranked pass defense. Currently, they rank (by far) number one in yards with 183.5 per game and yards per attempt at 5.8 yards per attempt. No other team is below 201 yards per game and 6.3 yards per attempt.

That said, PFF thinks the Broncos have a couple of weak spots in that secondary that could be exploited. Let’s take a look at the drop off in production:

Cornerback Grades

1. Aqib Talib +91.9 (1st)
2. Chris Harris Jr. +91.6 (2nd)
3. Bradley Roby +52.0 (91st)

The Broncos have the two best cornerbacks in the NFL in 2016, but they play a lot of packages to get Roby on the field. Right now, he is having a really poor season. Against good offensive teams, that could become a major liability as Denver tries to fight for a wild card spot.

Lorenzo Doss (+73.4) has graded out much better than any of the Broncos reserve cornerbacks and should see the playing field more in my opinion.

Safety Grades

1. Darian Stewart +84.6 (11th)
2. T.J. Ward +75.1 (53rd)

Now we see why Stewart received a contract extension from the Broncos mid-season. He’s showing consistency over multiple years and that is always worth keeping around. The big surprise has been Ward’s play, which has been less than inspiring.

Justin Simmons (+70.0) and Will Parks (+71.8) are both grading out near where Ward is producing, but at a much lower cost.

As it stands, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is probably the course of action the Broncos will take through the final three games and its probably the right course of action. The interesting part will be how the Broncos proceed with their offseason roster review.

Note: There was some concern over whether these rankings included players who don’t see the field much. PFF has a minimum snap count requirement that most of those players do not meet.