After watching Practice 12 of Denver Broncos training camp, there are three players who have impressed me and who, surprisingly, could make the roster on the day of the cut. Every year, players come out of nowhere to form an NFL team, and the Broncos aren’t immune to the phenomenon.
Three surprise players could be on the ball in defense this season. The Broncos have quite a fight on the defensive line and edge rusher. Let’s move on to the three players from these groups who could make the squad when the club announce their first 53-man squad.
Table of Contents
Jonathan Harris | DL
The defensive line starters are pretty much set with Dre’Mont Jones, DJ Jones and DeShawn Williams. Depth positions in the rotation are not fixed, and quite a bit of dogfighting ensues in camp to earn those spare roles.
Harris ran early and often with the first-team defense in Tuesday’s scrimmages, making plays along the way. He showed the ability to hold his own against the run and was able to penetrate against the pass.
On a replay against second-team offense, Harris pulled off a great swim to quickly get to the backfield and flush quarterback Josh Johnson out of the pocket. It could have been a sack in a real game. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Harris was the first defender off the bench in the defensive line rotation Sunday.
What’s next for the Broncos? Don’t miss any news and analysis! Take a second and Sign up for our FREE newsletter and get the latest Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!
Marquis Spencer | DL
Spencer, a seventh-round draft pick in 2021, made the practice squad last season. He was called up in Week 17 and saw a little playtime on defense but is pushing for a lot more this offseason.
Spencer flashed a few times during team period drills and looks like he can handle an increased workload in defensive line rotation. In a replay, he and Baron Browning blasted a running game during 11-on-11.
Spencer also had better performance in scrimmages than McTelvin Agim and could very well make a third-round pick on August 30 expendable. Agim seemed a little slow at times, and while he did make some nice plays, he’s not as impressive as one would think for a player fighting for a final roster spot.
Spencer wasn’t flawless in practice either, as he was knocked down in a scrimmage. He’ll see those kinds of games as he grows, but overall he was a player who surprised me.
Jonathan Kongbo | OLB
The top 4 edge rushers are Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory (PUP list), Baron Browning and Nik Bonito. However, Gregory’s surgery has meant that more edge rushers need to be kept away from goal while he works in form football again.
Scroll to Next
This additional player could be Kongbo. He had an interesting start to his professional football career after spending some time in the Canadian Football League. His growth has been stunted by a series of injuries, but he has talent if he can stay healthy.
Kongbo was impressive, attacking all drills with much more intensity than the other players in the edge rushing group and he took the coaching well. He also looked more explosive than expected.
During team practice, Kongbo made several nice moves. He showed really good use of his hands to keep an offensive lineman off his body, and the next game he was quick in the backfield to disrupt offense.
I saw Kongbo line up next to the ball where he executed a delayed rush to perfection. He was quick in the quarterback’s face to disrupt the offense, which in a real game situation might have resulted in a sack.
The other two, who were vying for game time at Rush linebacker Jonathon Cooper and Christopher Allen, were doing very little practice as they returned from injury. In fact, Allen wasn’t on the field for any drills or drills, and Cooper just did some drills.
Kongbo would be the last survivor if the Broncos intend to put those two players on the injured reserve list. At the very least, the Broncos could try to get Kongbo on the practice squad.
Preseason will show how much progress these three players have made. Give them special attention over the next three weeks.
Follow Thomas on Twitter @ThomasHallNFL.
Keep following Mile High Huddle Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on Youtube for daily Broncos live stream podcasts!