Former Broncos in the 2019 NFL playoffs

Denver’s season has ended early, but that’s not so for six former Broncos.

By Taylor Kothe@tkothe_nfl Jan 11, 2019, 4:30am MST

The Broncos are already “on to 2019” as it were, complete with a new head coach and the usual buzz of interest surrounding coordinators and position coaches that follows hard on the heels of every head coach hire. And while the coaches and front office are busy, the players are anything but. Their offseason has begun and their time is their own.

That’s not the case just yet for half a dozen of their former teammates, though. With eight teams remaining in the playoffs, six former Broncos will take the field at least once more this NFL season. Interestingly, half of them are offensive linemen. Russell Okung and Michael Schofield will be in New England this weekend with the Chargers, and James Ferentz will be on the other sideline with the Patriots. Throw in former longtime Broncos tight end Virgil Green, and the Chargers @ Patriots matchup is relatively heavy with former Broncos.

Those four are also the only remaining Broncos in play in the AFC. The Colts @ Chiefs matchup won’t feature any of our former players. And even in the wildcard round the only additional Broncos involved were Demaryius Thomas and Kayvon Webster, though both are on Injured Reserve and didn’t take part in the Texans’ loss to the Colts.

In the NFC, no old Broncos are playing in the Eagles @ Saints game, but two will take the field when the Cowboys visit the Rams in Los Angeles. Running back C.J. Anderson will play a role on offense for the Rams, even if just as a backup, and Aqib Talib will feature in the Rams’ secondary after coming back from an injury that landed him on Injured Reserve early in the season. Only one former Bronco was eliminated last weekend when his team lost a wildcard matchup: linebacker Danny Trevathan of the Bears.

These guys won’t be out there in orange & blue this weekend, but it’s nice to keep track of players we used to root for. And, who knows, at least one of these guys may finish his season with some additional hardware to go with that Super Bowl 50 ring (Russell Okung being the exception there as the only former Bronco in the playoffs who wasn’t part of the 2015 team.).

Good luck to them.