3 defenders Broncos will have to rely on to win in Oakland

These three defenders will factor greatly into whether the Broncos emerge from Week 1 with a win.

I have examined the Oakland Raiders' areas the Denver Broncos can exploit. Additionally, I broke down which offensive players are best suited to exploit those weaknesses. 

Now is the time to point out three defensive Broncos who can wreck the Raiders' offensive gameplan. These three players need to rise to the occasion, because the Raiders are probably going to test them.

Bradley Chubb, OLB

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The biggest area for the Broncos to exploit on defense is Oakland's poor left side of their offensive line. They have a second-year left tackle that was one of the worst tackles in the NFL last year. Kolton Miller allowed 65 total pressures and 12 sacks. Chubb nearly matched those numbers himself with 56 total pressures and 12 sacks.

Derek Carr is a different quarterback when pressure is getting home. He makes many errant throws, which the Broncos can take advantage of. With Von Miller facing Trent Brown and Shelby Harris going against Rodney Hudson, a lot of the pressure will fall on Chubb's shoulders.

Chubb should be able to win pretty regularly against Miller, but Denver can also stunt him inside and get him matched up against the left guard. The Raiders' left guard was a depth lineman for every previous year of his career and doesn’t have much starting experience. 

There are issues there when picking up stunts, and experience really helps with it. Getting Chubb to get the pressure against the left guard and into Carr’s face just makes things worse for Carr.

Bryce Callahan, CB

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With Antonio Brown released, Chris Harris, Jr. will be taking on Tyrell Williams. That leaves J.J. Nelson or Hunter Renfrow to Bryce Callahan. The Raiders' depth at receiver is a little lackluster and unproven, while the secondary for the Broncos is a strength.

However, the Broncos haven’t had Callahan get on the field at all. He missed all of the preseason and is still hampered by a foot injury, officially listed as questionable for Week 1. That foot could slow him down or impact his play. With Harris taking out the top receiver, the Broncos need Callahan to hold down the fort as the No. 2 cornerback.

If the Broncos can take away Oakland's top two receivers with their corners, they can afford to give their safety help to their linebackers. Darren Waller is a big receiver/tight end that has looked good for the Raiders. He is a mismatch against the Broncos' linebackers, and giving them safety help, or being able to afford to give them safety help, is a must for the defense.

Josey Jewell, ILB

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A year ago, Jewell was a very solid rookie linebacker, and graded out about middle-of-the-pack from Pro Football Focus. His run defense was great, but he was an issue in coverage. Denver needs to see growth from him in coverage, or he may be relegated to a depth linebacker spot in future years.

With Darren Waller, Jewell will really need to be careful. Waller has the advantage over Jewell, and because of that, Denver needs to be able to give the linebackers safety help. Even if Jewell isn’t matched up against Waller, there are concerns about him against Josh Jacobs, the Raiders' talented rookie running back.

In his limited preseason action, Jewell continued to look rough in coverage, but still showed out as a good run defender. He will be tested in coverage, but he should be able to win his matchups and shut down the running game. 

Derek Carr gets worse when you take away the running game and put the pressure on him, so a lot rides on Jewell. Shut down that run game, and give him safety help in coverage. 

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