The Denver Broncos roster is set minus a couple of moves later today or over the weekend, but none of those moves are likely to effect the rookies who are on the team. When the Broncos lineup on opening night versus the Pittsurgh Steelers, they will do so with nine rookies. The personnel department led by John Elway and Matt Russell did a great job with the draft, and the scouting of undrafted free agents. It remains to be seen how the first-year players perform when the lights go on, but it looks like Elway and his staff knocked it out of the park.
The draft class starts with Derek Wolfe and Ronnie Hillman, both will have huge impacts on their respective sides of the football. Wolfe has been the most impressive rookie in camp and will give the Broncos another pass rusher to go along with Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller. Hillman has been dealing with a hamstring injury but will be counted on to be a big part of the Broncos offense. Fans saw a glimpse of what he can do in the preseason finale versus the Arizona Cardinals.
Even with their defensive improvement in 2011, Elway knew they had to continue to get better. In addition to Wolfe, the Broncos feature four more rookies that will have an impact. Malik Jackson joins Wolfe on the defensive line and has gotten better as the preseason has progressed, Jackson is not a starter but the defensive line is about depth and rotation, and he will be a big part of that rotation. The player outside of Wolfe and Hilman that may end up having the biggest impact is linebacker, Danny Trevathan. The Broncos are fairly thin at that position and Trevathan looks like a player.
The biggest weakness of the defense last season was the secondary, and the Broncos may have found a gem in Omar Bolden. Bolden probably would have been a first round pick had he not torn his ACL in 2010, and the Broncos were able to snag him in the fourth round. To be fair, Bolden has struggled at times this preseason but his upside is huge. He also proved on Thursday night that he can return kicks, taking a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown. The best story remains, Steven Johnson! The undrafted free agent linebacker from the University of Kansas. It is my belief that the Broncos wanted to keep Johnson on the practice squad but he just played too well, and made the roster. The Jayhawks have been good to the Broncos the past two years, Chris Harris was also an undrafted free agent from Kansas last year and is one of the better players in the secondary.
Aaron Brewer and Phillip Blake top off the rookie class, with Brewer taking over the long snapper duties. Blake will provide depth on the offensive line and continue his development. Quarterback, Brock Osweiler tops of the rookie class and if all goes well, Bronco fans will not see his impact for a few seasons.
The Denver Broncos are about winning championships but as Elway said when he assumed control of the organization, great teams are built through the draft. Time will tell but it looks like the 2012 draft was a great one.
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