2025 Denver Broncos

The 2025 Broncos under head coach Sean Payton, though not quite as white as last year, are once again one of the most white-friendly teams in a dark league. With a strong defense, a great offensive line, a veteran coach, and a promising young QB, preseason hype had them looking to improve over last season's 10-7 finish. The Broncos opened with an ugly win over a weak team; let's hope they can settle down as the season progresses.

Quarterback Bo Nix was thrown into the fire early last year, and all things considered learned quickly on the job and improved rapidly in the second half of the season. With a high ceiling, an experienced coach, and a lot of upside (actual upside), his sophomore year prospects look bright. Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger back him up. Nix is protected by an excellent offensive line that by complete coincidence also just happens to be a snow plow, with all 5 starters returning from last season and 4 of the 5 entering their 3rd year as starters together. Lunch pailers are stacked at the 2/3/4 strings at TE on this offense with Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull, and Nate Adkins. Fullback Adam Prentice, after 4 years with the Saints, was signed by the Broncos, cut in the annual white purge, signed to the practice squad, then elevated to the 53-man roster.

On defense, fans (and not just here) will be focusing on stud CB Riley Moss, one of the best corners in the league and a true Dodgers #42 style color barrier breaker. Strong defensive lineman Zach Allen and tackling machine Alex Singleton round out the blue collar defensive starters. Talented but frequently injured LB Drew Sanders is out again, this time with a tendon injury in his foot, for an "extended" period of time.

I wish this team success this season; their relative White-friendliness is in the top tier by the standards of this dark league. Expectations to deliver are much higher this year than last, should they fall short the scapegoating will begin sooner or later. The head coach is the most common target but Payton's resume may buy him an extra year or two. Wishing the best for all the lunch pailers but particularly Nix and Moss.

2025 Denver Broncos (starters in bold):

QB - Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, Sam Ehlinger
FB - Adam Prentice (starter? only FB on the active roster but played only 20% of snaps in Game 1)
TE - Nate Adkins, Lucas Krull, Adam Trautman
OT - Garrett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, Frank Crum
G - Quinn Meinerz, Ben Powers, Alex Palczewski
C - Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth

DL - Zach Allen
LB - Alex Singleton, Jonah Elliss (mixed but looks White)
CB - Riley Moss

K - Wil Lutz
P - Jeremy Crawshaw
LS - Mitchell Fraboni (probably mixed but casual fans will perceive a long snapper as White)

Injured - G Nick Gargiulo, FB Michael Burton, DE Matt Henningsen, LB Drew Sanders

Practice squad - WR Michael Bandy, WR Thayer Thomas, TE Caleb Lohner, C Joe Michalski, G Calvin Throckmorton, LB Garret Wallow (may be mixed)

Total White starters: 9-10

Total White players on 53-man roster: 20-22

Overall grade: C

Excellent write up.

Obviously a team with a lot to like. Getting greedy, I really want to see Sanders return and tear it up. I’d also enjoy this team more if they had a White receiver. I’ve given up hope that Bandy will be anything more than the Broncos version of Tom Kennedy. Thayer Thomas however, is an intriguing talent. Here’s to hoping.

This is good news for Drew Sanders if he can get healthy and stay healthy. He should come off IR in time for Week 5. With Greenlaw even more injury prone than he is, there's a ready made starting job open for Drew if he can take advantage:

Broncos placed LB Dre Greenlaw (quad) on injured reserve. Greenlaw’s absence is a significant blow to a Broncos defense that has underperformed expectations through two weeks. He will now miss the next four games, at minimum, with a torn quad sustained this offseason. He aggravated the injury later in the offseason before missing the team’s first two games, and subsequently being placed on injured reserve. His Broncos debut could be pushed to the tail end of the 2025 season.

https://nfltraderumors.co/broncos-cut-qb-sam-ehlinger/

Another QB that should be a number 2 on many NFL teams.

WR Michael Bandy was elevated from the practice squad and had a reception for 16 yards in today's game.

Gator Dad said:

WR Michael Bandy was elevated from the practice squad and had a reception for 16 yards in today's game.

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The biggest hole in this Denver offense (and might I add the entire NFL) is the lack of smaller receivers that can get open in the middle of the field. It really does seem like this offense is either screen passes or bombs. All of Denver's WRs are kind of built the same, bigger guys who can push down field. Mims has not panned out as the inside guy. Bandy may not be elite but I'm hopeful he can carve out a role and stick to the active roster.

Here's hoping Alex makes a complete recovery:

Broncos LB Alex Singleton said he had surgery for testicular cancer and will return “in the coming weeks.” Apparently Singleton caught the cancer early, which is great news. Singleton has been more-or-less an every-down starter for the Broncos this year, playing 659 defensive snaps in 10 weeks. They’ll turn to their depth and hope to get Singleton back for the playoffs.

Don Wassall said:

Here's hoping Alex makes a complete recovery:

Broncos LB Alex Singleton said he had surgery for testicular cancer and will return “in the coming weeks.” Apparently Singleton caught the cancer early, which is great news. Singleton has been more-or-less an every-down starter for the Broncos this year, playing 659 defensive snaps in 10 weeks. They’ll turn to their depth and hope to get Singleton back for the playoffs.

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WTF? Topic for the Thunder and now Singleton? Topic already getting chemotherapy and Singleton surgery? Why the eff is this a thing? Very bizarre to me.

Time for a first team All Pro selection for Garrett Bolles…

• PFF Overall Grade: 87.3 (leads all left tackles; 88.8 overall among all OTs in recent rankings).


• PFF Pass-Blocking Grade: 90.0 (tops all offensive tackles league-wide).


• Pressures Allowed: 7 total (tied for 2nd-fewest among OTs; 0.9% pressure rate, lowest in the NFL for 300+ snaps).


• Sacks Allowed: 0 (tied for 1st).


• Run-Blocking Grade: 82.2 (4th among guards/OTs, but elite for a tackle in pass-heavy schemes).


• Notable matchups: Shut down Myles Garrett (0 sacks, 2 tackles) in Week 12 and held Trey Hendrickson to minimal impact early in the year.

Sounds like LB Drew Sanders may return later this season. Would be nice to have him ready in time for the playoffs.

Broncos sign Cody Schrader. Since Dobbins went down, Denver's RB room has been the weak spot on the offense. 2nd round rookie RJ Harvey (5'8" 205 lbs) has been a disappointment, and the other 2 backs on the roster (who are also 5'8" and around 200 lbs) are career backups. Schrader is 5'8" 202, so he fits the mold for this team, but there's a good chance he gets cut immediately once Harvey is cleared to play.

Fingers crossed he finally gets a shot.

Bucky said:

Fingers crossed he finally gets a shot.

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Let's hope for enough injuries to get him playing time the final few games. He needs the luck of Peyton Hillis to play despite him
having more talent than most if not all of their running backs. Same thing with Will Shipley on the Eagles. Bury the white rb on
the depth chart or keep him on the practice squad. It wastes their most valueable years as a running back in their prime.

Let's hope for some luck for Cody Schrader!

Nick Mangold said:

Broncos sign Cody Schrader. Since Dobbins went down, Denver's RB room has been the weak spot on the offense. 2nd round rookie RJ Harvey (5'8" 205 lbs) has been a disappointment, and the other 2 backs on the roster (who are also 5'8" and around 200 lbs) are career backups. Schrader is 5'8" 202, so he fits the mold for this team, but there's a good chance he gets cut immediately once Harvey is cleared to play.

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The guys ahead of Schrader: a Mizzou guy that had a fraction of his stats there, and a Youngstown St guy. Don’t go with the former leading rusher in the SEC.......

It's good that the Broncos still value Drew Sanders after he's missed the past two seasons with injuries. Now if he can only stay healthy for once he may be a key cog on their defense next season.

Broncos designated ILB Drew Sanders (foot) to return from injured reserve. The No. 1 seeded Broncos get the luxury of an additional week of preparation as they await their Division Round opponent, giving Sanders a legitimate chance to return for the team’s first postseason game. The third-year linebacker spent the entirety of the 2025 regular season on injured reserve after complications from a torn Achilles suffered in 2024.

Sanders reminds me of Troy Andersen. Just needs to stay healthy!

Broncos are not totally out of this, by any means. Thing is, they will, very likely, have to be carried by their excellent defense. There is absolute "precedent" for this -- Broncos team being "carried" by their defense. The 2015 Denver Broncos won a Super Bowl with the worst quarterback play in the NFL. That can't be disputed!

An amazing, Hall-of-Fame quarterback, who just simply "lost it" overnight, at the age of 39, led them to a Super Bowl win. He "lost it" after producing stunning seasons for the 2013 (55 TD's) and 2014 Broncos. During that 2015 season, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback went 7-2 in the regular season, tossing only 9 TD's and was intercepted 17 times! His postseason stats were a bit better, but not by much. Just cut down the turnovers.

Not saying the Broncos chances are not diminished. Because they are. But can Jarrett Stidham's play be any worse than the quarterback play the Broncos got in 2015, the last time they won a Super Bowl? It will likely come down to turnovers. Actually, the case could be made that Brock Osweiler was their best quarterback option in 2015 and he did not take a post-season snap. They still won, suffocating opposing teams offense's in the rarefied Colorado air. Could happen again?

Just sit back and enjoy the conference title games and let things fall as the will. That said, all things equal, I'm still rooting pretty hard for the Broncos, as they have started 10 Whites** at times this season and consistently start 9.


**10th starter, at times has been #2 TE Nate Adkins (6 starts/Broncos started 2 TE's) or the fullback Adam Prentice.

There seems to have been a coordinated media effort to hype up Stidham. He’s been in the league 6 seasons and has never sniffed a starting gig. I expect him to be wholly ineffective.

icsept said:

There seems to have been a coordinated media effort to hype up Stidham. He’s been in the league 6 seasons and has never sniffed a starting gig. I expect him to be wholly ineffective.

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It's damage control being pushed by the NFL to drum up a new storyline for this game since Nix is out.

I think Leo is correct. NFL has a ton of money riding on these games; dozens of billionaires (league execs, advertisers, networks, ect.) that will profit from greater ratings. Last thing they need is a total lopsided blowout -- like the 2022 NFC title game when Brock Purdy injured his elbow @ the Eagles on the 49ers first series and some totally subpar afflete came in relief. Particularity with bad weather throughout the nation -- they need the "sheep" riveted to their TV's, not going out to shovel snow as early as possible. So they are pumping up Stidham.

That said, truly anything can happen. As I hinted to above, the 2015 Broncos won a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning, who just seemingly became "washed up" overnight. He was absolutely terrible that season (9 TD's/17 Int's) and they still won with him, playing similar to Russell Wilson, circa 2024 ans 2025. Can Stidham be worse? Look what Phillip Rivers (head coach candidate with the Bills) did coming off his "couch" at 44 years old, 5 years removed?

I really think the Broncos have a legit shot against the Patriots tomorrow -- game in Denver's rarefied air, cold-weather, boisterous crowd, great Broncos defense. Taking the next step without Bo Nix -- beating Seattle or Los Angles Rams on a neutral site will really be asking a lot!

P.S: Last week poster Jimmy Chitwood asked how Riley Moss fared vs. the Bills? He was very good, I think. 6 targets, 3 receptions for only 24 yards. Down side, he did give up a short TD. But stopping those are tough. He'll need to come up big this week, again, considering the Patriots have already made it known they will go after him. And Riley is "excited" about that.

Here's a recent article about 3 "historic" White cornebacks in 2025:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...ey-moss-jason-sehorn/9a676b4c857243e2a0012fb1

Peyton Manning didn't suddenly become "washed up" out of the blue. He was dealing toward the end of his career with a shoulder injury, or to quote the ubiquitous AI bot that now always appears at the top of Google searches:

"Peyton Manning’s "shoulder injury" near the end of his career was actually a severe, chronic neck injury (specifically a pinched nerve and herniated discs) that caused significant weakness in his right throwing arm. This condition led to multiple surgeries, his release from the Indianapolis Colts, and a dramatic, albeit physically diminished, final chapter with the Denver Broncos."

In other words Manning's right arm was weakened to the point that he couldn't throw downfield anymore. It's important to point out what caused his throwing numbers to greatly decline rather than repeatedly stating he "simply lost it," was "absolutely terrible," and became "washed up overnight" without putting it in context. Despite the injuries he still gutted it out and used his experience and savvy to help Denver win the Super Bowl and then retired, much like John Elway went out after winning back to back Super Bowls for the Broncos.

Don Wassall said:

Despite the injuries he still gutted it out and used his experience and savvy to help Denver the Super Bowl.

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Well, that was my point, the Broncos won it all despite poor to sub-par quarterback play in 2015. But your point is fair, I sort of forgot how difficult the injuries had become.

This condition led to multiple surgeries, his release from the Indianapolis Colts, and a dramatic, albeit physically diminished, final chapter with the Denver Broncos."

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Google is not totally correct here, regarding his "final chapter". Peyton had battled through serious injuries from the moment he got to Denver. But still thrived in 2012, 2013 and 2014. 2013 was an incredible season (55 TD's) and 2014 was also very good. He had three excellent seasons, then flat-lined his final year. Why was 2015 such a challenge? Was it the foot injury, to go along with lingering shoulder issues, that season? He was never super mobile?

Just some random thoughts:

*** Peyton is among my top 5 favorite players ever, so I'm absolutely not (intentionally) trying to debase him because I don't like him. Just pointing out how bad his last season was. That can't be refuted. Perhaps the terms I used were a bit "harsh", but I bet Peyton, a big time prankster (with teammates) and "free-spirit", would agree with my "harsh" words (it was an awful season stats wise), considering the self-deprecating humor he is known for.

*** I knew someone who's son was very close to him and I heard a ton of great stories and great things about him. I can name, right off the bat, 4 or 5 undrafted/practice squad White wide receivers Peyton personally went to bat for -- lobbying Bill Polian and Tony Dungy to keep around; something his brother (Eli) probably never did. One, in particular, Peyton really liked (I was told) that barely got a sniff in the NFL was a fairly obscure UFA from Purdue named Brian Hare. Peyton really loved his game, went to Bill Polian and offensive coaches (Jim Caldwell, Bruce Arians, ect.) and did his best to hype him up and keep him around, just didn't happen. It was probably determined ahead of time (by the coaches - caste cuck Arians cut his own WR nephew in Az.) Brian Hare would be nothing more than a pre-season "body" and Peyton had little chance changing that.

The only ones (White WR's) Dungy and his coaches kept around for any significant time period were the higher picks/bigger ticket free agents (B. Stokely, A.Collie, A. Gonzalez). Other were "cleansed" fairly quick, despite Peyton's favorable recommendations.

I really doubt it was "racial" for Peyton. I was told Peyton just thought their talent and upside was sufficient enough to develop going forward, despite the fact they were not drafted. More importantly, he really wanted "reliable", "sure handed" receivers (regardless of race), that could run proper and timely routes -- kind of like Brady became smitten with Welker, Hogan, Edleman, Burkhead and Amendola.

DWF types don't realize how many interceptions/pick 6's are actually on the wide receiver, for running improper or poorly timed routes. Happened to Carson Beck versus Indiana this week. His receiver wasn't even looking back until the Indiana DB picked it off to end the game.

Truthteller said:

Google is not totally correct here, regarding his "final chapter". Peyton had battled through serious injuries from the moment he got to Denver. But still thrived in 2012, 2013 and 2014. 2013 was an incredible season (55 TD's) and 2014 was also very good. He had three excellent seasons, then flat-lined his final year. Why was 2015 such a challenge? Was it the foot injury, to go along with lingering shoulder issues, that season? He was never super mobile?

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Obviously, despite the surgeries, the rehab and everything he did to try to keep functioning at his historically high level, his condition worsened to the point that he could barely throw in 2015.

I have no doubt Manning would have played into his early 40s if his arm hadn't been rendered almost useless. He wasn't "athletic," just like Brady and Rivers, but like them he was a genius at his craft. His talent came from his brain and his arm. Once the arm gave out he was effectively finished.

Considering he was among your top five ever, same here, it was only fitting to give the context. Not mentioning that, and not even mentioning his name in one of your posts was odd.

At any rate, while I like Stidham and wanted him to get a starting opportunity at some point, Manning did gut it out his final season, including helping the Broncos win just through his experience and will. I'll be rooting for Stidham and Denver to get the Broncos back to the big game but he and they face a tall task without Bo Nix.

Don Wassall said:

Not mentioning that, and not even mentioning his name in one of your posts was odd.

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Glad someone noticed. Simply adding some mystery to the thread/post. A bit of a different tactic; I did that intentionally. If anyone did not know who that Hall of Fame quarterback was, the link to the 2015 Broncos was provided. I was actually hoping people would click on it to find out/refresh their memory, if they did not know.

By the way, if they did click on that 2015 Broncos link, from a CF perspective, that team didn't have much to root for, besides Peyton. Although, the fact that they were playing an equally caste (or worse) Carolina team, I guess they were the better option that day.

This 2025 Broncos team is much better to root for, from my perspective. If Nix was playing, they'd be my clear cut favorite to win the Super Bowl. Hopefully Stidham shows up and plays well. We'll see?

Super Bowl week would be even more difficult with Stidham starting at quarterback, as it will likely be played in ideal weather conditions at a neutral site.

It was painful to watch Peyton throw the occasional duck. Damn good SB though.