Denver Broncos Depth Chart
- AFC West
- Stadium
- Empower Field at Mile High
- Head Coach
- Offensive Coordinator
- Pat Shurmur
- Defensive Coordinator
- Ed Donatell
- Special Teams Coach
- Tom McMahon
- Defensive Scheme
- 3-4
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has become the front-runner for the Denver Broncos head-coaching vacancy, and he's expected to interview for several head-coaching positions, including the Broncos, next week. Quinn has done a great job with Dallas' defense this year and took the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl in his second season as their head coach. Other than Quinn, Denver had a strong interview with Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett on Saturday. The Cowboys defense under Quinn this year ranked seventh in points per game allowed (21.1) and was tied for a plus-14 turnover differential thanks to a league-high 34 turnovers. Denver's D was their strong point this year, but if Quinn is hired, his biggest task will be finding a quarterback to improve Denver's offense.
The Denver Broncos defense was the strength of this team yet again in 2021, but their offense never really answered the bell to complement them all season long. That was again the case in the Week 18 regular season finale in the 28-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. While the Broncos defense only had one sack on Patrick Mahomes and didn't force a turnover on the day, they held the high-scoring Chiefs offense to under 30 points for the second time this season. Kansas City's final touchdown came on a Melvin Gordon fumble that the Chiefs defense returned for a game-sealing score late in the game. Even though Von Miller is not around, the Broncos D was a top-10 defense this year and was in the top three in scoring. If they can avoid significant injuries to key starters in 2022, they should enter the season as a top-12 fantasy defensive unit.
Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus finished off his season strong in the 28-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18 on Saturday. McManus made a 31-yard field goal, his only field-goal attempt in the game, and all three extra-point tries. The 30-year-old finishes the year with 26 made field goals on 31 tries (83.9%) while missing just one of his 34 extra-point attempts in 17 games. McManus has a big leg and has been very accurate, but the Broncos offense didn't give him enough chances for field goals and extra points to make him much more than a low-end streaming option at the position in fantasy in good matchups. If the Broncos upgrade at the quarterback position in the offseason and their offense is more productive in 2022, McManus could be on the weekly radar.
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton continued his second-half fall in the Week 18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday when he caught just one of three targets for 13 yards. Sutton was looking good early in the season, considering he missed most of last year with a torn ACL, but once Jerry Jeudy returned from a high ankle sprain in Week 8, Sutton's season took a nosedive. In the first seven games, he had 38 catches for 539 yards and two touchdowns on 58 targets. In the final 10 games, Sutton caught 20 of 40 targets for 237 yards and no touchdowns. It's a disturbing trend that must be considered heading into 2022. Jeudy and Patrick aren't going anywhere, so unless the Broncos make a notable upgrade at quarterback this offseason, Sutton won't be particularly attractive as a WR3, at best.
Denver Broncos tight end Noah Fant predictably fell back to Earth in the Week 18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. Fant had one of his best games of the year in the Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when receivers Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick were out due to COVID-19 -- he caught six of seven targets for a team-high 92 yards and his fourth touchdown of the season. But with Jeudy and Patrick back in Week 18, Fant caught one of his two targets for 16 yards in the 28-24 loss to Kansas City. In his third year with the Broncos, Fant finished with a career-high 68 catches for 670 yards and four touchdowns on 90 targets in 16 games. Fant could remain in the low-end TE1 picture in 2022, but it will depend on how Denver handles the QB situation in the offseason. The presence of Albert Okwuegbunam, who had a bigger role this year, is also bad news for Fant moving forward in an offense with plenty of mouths to feed.