What are the Broncos doing?
The Denver Broncos did nothing at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline, which should ultimately surprise nobody. Well, to be fair, the Broncos did trade away Baron Browning to the Arizona Cardinals, but they did nothing to add to the roster despite cries from the fan base that the team needed at least one more playmaker.
Ultimately, the Broncos watched as the rest of the playoff contenders in the AFC made at least one move, and in some cases multiple moves to strengthen their chances come January. The Broncos are playing the long game with their roster, which is fine, but was it the best decision for rookie quarterback Bo Nix over the next eight games?
Broncos pass on playmakers at 2024 NFL Trade Deadline
The case for the Broncos trying to acquire a playmaker at the trade deadline was very simple. The team currently has nobody reliable outside of Courtland Sutton in the passing game for Bo Nix to throw the football to. And even Sutton has had his share of issues as well as a game in which he was not targeted (where the Broncos won by 23 points).
The top three players on the Broncos' roster right now in passing targets are Sutton, running back Javonte Williams, and wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who started the year on the practice squad. For those keeping score at home, that means that a player who started the year on the practice squad is quite literally the team's WR2 at the moment.
With receivers being traded for Day 3 draft pick swaps, you can't blame the members of Broncos Country who wanted the team to go trade for someone for being upset.
Beyond Humphrey, the next leading player in targets is rookie Troy Franklin, which is great news. The bad news? He has the worst success rate of any receiver on the Broncos this season at just 25.9 percent. The Broncos have struggled to get Franklin going, despite deliberate attempts to get him involved.
Devaughn Vele missed a bunch of time with a rib injury and Josh Reynolds has been battling injuries since the beginning of the year and was recently (shockingly) shot in the head in a wild incident. Thank goodness he's okay and is miraculously expected to return to the field at some point this season, but we don't exactly know when.
Not that it's up to me, but looking at the Broncos' skill position groups, it's easy to see that the team's rookie QB is currently QB1, he has an argument as being the best runner on the team, and he proved against the Ravens that he's got some chops as a receiver. The problem is, Nix can't keep doing things by himself. And the less his teammates help him out, the more he could form bad habits of thinking he has to make all the plays in order for the offense to succeed.
The Broncos need to figure out a way to have someone other than Lil'Jordan Humphrey as the team's second-leading player in targets at receiver. They need to get more touches for Troy Franklin. They need to get some easy ones for Marvin Mims and try to get him on track despite how disappointing he's been.
And now that the trade deadline has come and gone, it might be time to get Greg Dulcich involved again and see if he can figure out the issues that have plagued him.
There are options on the practice squad as well with AT Perry a big body with speed at the wide receiver position and Donald Parham at tight end with 11 career touchdown receptions.
Maybe the solutions lie within for this Denver Broncos team but we need to start seeing these guys actually make some plays, or it's going to look horrible for this team -- currently 7th in the AFC playoff standings -- if they miss the postseason yet again.
