3 Injuries that Will Greatly Affect Broncos' Final Roster Math

Sometimes the roster arithmetic can be painful — even more so due to injuries.

When a player is lost due to injury before the season starts, there is more impact than just the loss of talent. The loss influences the front office's roster decisions. 

The Denver Broncos are about to feel that pain. The team will lack flexibility when setting its final 53-man roster because of three specific players currently injured. 

Those missing players will cause a significant ripple effect across the Broncos' final roster. A few really good players will be let go when the team has to make final cuts to get down to the final 53 guys. 

Who are these three injured players causing the ripple effect? Let's dive in. 

Tim Patrick | WR | ACL (Season)

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Patrick suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp practice earlier this week and his absence will be felt both on the field and in the the locker room. When it comes to Denver's roster decisions, it will affect more than just the wide receiver group. 

With Patrick healthy, the Broncos had four excellent receivers and, like last season, they could have opted to keep five on the roster because of the talent level at the top. The Broncos could again use the practice squad to keep pass-catchers they would call up on gameday. 

That strategy worked well last season, and it allowed the Broncos to keep a player at another position group. Without Patrick, that changes dramatically. 

The Broncos will need to keep six receivers on the roster due to the uncertainty of which player will step up when needed. Currently, the team has a few options already on the roster at the position, but all of those players come with question marks.

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Randy Gregory | OLB | Shoulder (PUP List)

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The offseason surgery to Gregory’s shoulder has landed him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. His timeline to return is on schedule, but it has him returning for Week 1. 

With no practice until then, Gregory will need to get into football shape, and it's likely that he will not have a full workload for at least the first week of the season. If he'd been a full go for all of training camp, the Broncos could have planned to keep only four edge rushers like they did three of the past four seasons. 

The Broncos do not have the luxury of that choice any longer. The club will be forced to carry at least five players at this position and possibly six until Gregory returns to a full workload.

Billy Turner | OT | Knee (PUP List)

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Turner has a knee injury that has been talked about very little this offseason, but it's severe enough to have landed him on the PUP list. He was slated to be the starting right tackle, but his absence has Calvin Anderson in that role. 

Turner being on the PUP for an unknown length of time impacts the number of backup offensive tackles the team must keep in the interim. If Anderson was the backup, he could be the swing tackle. 

The Broncos will likely need to keep two tackles because it takes a special type of player who can line up at both left and right tackle. Turner also can play either tackle position and move inside to guard, which is where he was used during his first stint in Denver. 

That offers the Broncos significant flexibility. The team could keep only eight offensive linemen if Turner were available. Now, the Broncos will need to keep nine offensive linemen to start the season because of that lost skill to play multiple positions.

How the Roster is Impacted

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Because the Broncos know that they'll have three additional players to add once healthy, it'll force the decision makers to go light at other positions. Those decisions wouldn't have been necessary before the injuries. 

The most likely positions that will feel the squeeze are safety and tight end. The Broncos have a stable of good safeties with Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson, and Caden Sterns at the top, all of whom are safe. 

If the Broncos can only keep four safeties, P.J. Locke, Delarrin Turner-Yell, and Jamar Johnson will be in a battle for that final spot. The coaches and front office will have have a tough decision to make. 

Do they keep a player that the Broncos invested a draft selection in by having Turner-Yell make the roster over Locke, the latter of whom has been a bright spot in camp? Do the Broncos part ways with another draft selection from 2021 in Johnson?

Locke is becoming a solid player and it would be tough to let him walk. As a rookie draft pick, Turner-Yell has good potential but do the coaches part ways with that upside? A good player from this group could hit the market.

The tight end position could lose a good player as well. Albert Okwuegbunam and Greg Dulcich are ostensibly safe. However, Eric Tomlinson nor Eric Saubert do not have a roster spot locked up.

The Broncos would have liked to keep four tight ends, especially in the wake of Patrick’s injury, but they may not have that option. Tomlinson is a good blocker at tight end, and can play fullback. The Broncos invested free-agent money this offseason to bring him to the Mile High City.

It would be easy to predict that Tomlinson wins the final spot, but Saubert has been one of the stars of training camp thus far. Coaches have raved about Saubert's rapport with Russell Wilson.

The extra work the veteran tight end has put in has made him a favorite target in practice for Wilson. That timing and trust give Saubert a huge boost in his push to make the roster. Losing either Tomlinson or Saubert would hurt.

Teams always have tough decisions to make when the preseason is over, but these three injuries make the job the Broncos face much more difficult. There will be some disappointment when the cuts are made on August 30.

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