PFF Concurs Broncos' Biggest Roster Need Entering the Draft Isn't OL

The Denver Broncos went to great lengths to fill multiple holes in free agency last month, but problem areas on the roster persist. One of those holes, and it's flying a bit too far under the radar, is edge rusher.

Pro Football Focus' Trevor Sikkema, one of the leading voices in NFL draft media, would concur. As Sikkema went around the league, highlighting the biggest roster hole for each NFL team, he pointed to edge rusher for the Broncos.

Like the Browns, the Broncos have one of the more complete rosters in the NFL; they just need to play better. They spent a ton of money in free agency on both the offensive and defensive line. Denver doesn’t pick until the third round, so the team's first selection will likely be a rotational player, which sets up well for the front office to take another edge rusher to help fortify that group.

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Sikkema is onto something here, in more ways than one. Yes, the Broncos need edge rusher depth — and I'll delve into that more shortly — but as fans watched the team become a national lampoon last year, it wasn't because of a lack of talent. The Broncos have had the personnel horses, they, as Sikkema writes, "just need to play better."

How does a team effectuate that? By hiring the right head coach.

Enter Sean Payton.

By this time next year, mark my words, there will be multiple Broncos whom fans will be buzzing about as if they had no idea they had it in them to be as productive as they'll be in 2023. Payton is the tide that raises all ships, and no boat stands to float higher as a result than Russell Wilson's.

But I digress. All things being equal — and if the injury bug were no concern — the Broncos have some talent at rush linebacker. The veteran of the group is Randy Gregory, who's a 10-sack-per-year caliber player, if/when he can fend off the injury bug and stay on the field.

Behind Gregory, there's a trio of young, talented guys, including Baron Browning, 2022 second-rounder Nik Bonitto, and Jonathon Cooper. Despite projections that he'd be a 2023 salary-cap casualty, Jacob Martin, a vet, persists on the roster, giving the Broncos a decent balance of a veteran floor and youthful upside in the room.

So why is edge rusher a need, then? Because it's football, which means you can't remove the injury bug factor from the equation. Gregory has struggled to stay healthy and he's the top dog in the group.

Beyond that, as talented as Browning, Bonitto, and Cooper are, they're still unproven and very much in chrysalis. We don't know what sort of butterfly is fated to emerge from that cocoon yet.

Let Sikkema's words be a message to Payton and company: the Broncos need one more talented guy to add to the edge mix. And while drafting that guy wouldn't do anything to check the veteran box, it would give Denver another young guy with upside (ostensibly), ready to be thrown into the breach if his number is called.

The Broncos hold two top-100 picks this year, both of which are in the third round (No. 67 and 68). Plus, pick No. 108 in the fourth round.

Even though Payton and GM George Paton blustered on Thursday about taking the best player available at those spots, I'll be surprised if edge rusher and interior O-line don't comprise two of Denver's first three selections in the draft.

Stay tuned.

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