Broncos Stock Report: Risers & Fallers Heading Into the Bye

Wow. Was Joe Flacco really that bad? Was a quarterback change all the Denver Broncos offense needed to light a fire?

That's still to be determined, but this week's stock report contains more risers than fallers, which is a nice change of pace from recent weeks. Without further ado, here are the big movers following a week 9 win against the Cleveland Browns.

Risers

Chris Harris, Jr., CB (New Rank: #10, up 8 spots)

Last week, I preemptively moved Harris down in the rankings, taking into consideration the possibility of him being traded prior to the NFL trade deadline. Well that ship has sailed and "Strap" Harris is still a Bronco. He is unquestionably one of the best players on this team, so keeping him around for at least the 2019 season is a plus.

In addition, in the days since the trade deadline passed, there have been several reports saying that there is "positive momentum" building around the possibility of Harris signing an extension to stay with Denver beyond this season. Given some of the injury concerns with the rest of the cornerback group, the idea of Harris staying is very encouraging.

Derek Wolfe, DE (New Rank: #17, up 5 spots)

Similar to Harris, Wolfe was another name that was floated around prior to the deadline. And also in the same regard, there have been reports saying he wishes to stay in Denver beyond this season. A lot of that decision will likely come down to what kind of contract he would demand, but given Wolfe just logged his fifth sack in the last four games — he looks like he's still playing at a very high level.

It'll be interesting to see how the dialogue around a potential Wolfe extension progresses throughout the year. Right now there are a number of upcoming free agents that the Broncos would like to extend (Simmons, Harris, Wolfe, McGovern), and I would guess Wolfe isn't as high of a priority as some of the others. Regardless, Wolfe is playing at a very high level in this defense right now.

Davontae Harris, CB (New Rank: #25, up 9 spots)

Denver may have found a nice little gem here with the other 'other' Harris. Coming into the season, it looked as if Denver was pretty flush with their cornerback depth. The Broncos had the reliable Harris, Jr., proven veteran Kareem Jackson, ideal system fit Bryce Callahan, and high upside players like Isaac Yiadom and De'Vante Bausby. That changed quickly when Jackson was moved to safety, Yiadom stopped playing up to his draft pedigree, and both Callahan and Bausby being on the shelf due to injury.

In the time since Bausby's injury, the Broncos have turned to Davontae Harris (and Duke Dawson) heavily. Did you know that in the last four games, Harris has played 100% of the defensive snaps? And not only is he seeing the field on every down, but the guy is also playing really well. Let me just give you some numbers.

Harris, Jr. has defended a total of 225 routes this season. In those routes defended, he has given up a catch rate of 63.9%, a QB passer rating of 100.3, and has been "burned" (receiver gains more than five yards separation) just 2.8% of the time.

Using the same metrics, Davontae Harris has defended 92 routes, while giving up a catch rate of just 55%, a QB passer rating of 82.3, and has not been "burned" at all.

Now, I get that Harris, Jr. is covering the opposing team's best wide receiver, and Davontae's sample size is much smaller, but this at leaves gives you an idea of how well the other 'other' Harris has been playing this year. If Davontae Harris wasn't an exclusive rights free agent following this season, he'd be ranked higher than #25.

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Brandon Allen, QB (New Rank: #33, up 18 spots)

Allen has never lost an NFL game in which he started. Crazy.

Okay, so first the positives. In his first NFL start, Allen threw for 193 yards on 60% completion with two TDs and zero INTs — good for a 125.6 rating. He looked oddly comfortable out there, despite this being his first NFL action. Most importantly though, he got the team a win, which is a very encouraging sign for the young QB.

However, keep this in mind. While Allen's box score from the game looks decent on paper, I'm going to refrain from completely overreacting to this one game. Why?

Well for starters, 75 of his 193 yards (plus one of the TDs) came off one play to Noah Fant that would have otherwise been a 10-yard pickup if not for his athleticism in space (and poor tackling from the Browns). Allen's other TD, and actually his first, went to Courtland Sutton and was quite a bit off target, but the big wideout was able to reel it in using his size and score the touchdown.

You take away two plays, and this game could have turned out a lot differently for Allen. ESPN happens to agree, given they have assigned him a QBR of just 37.1. An "average" NFL QB should hover no lower than 50 QBR.

So, like Vic Fangio, I'm not ready to crown Allen the QB of the future for this team. However, I am encouraged by what we saw in this game, and what this offense can be with a mobile quarterback and better play calling. If Allen continues to play well in the next couple of games, he could play himself in a backup role with the team next year.

Fallers

Juwann Winfree, WR (New Rank: #34, down 10 spots)

Winfree has played five total offensive snaps since Week 3. And what's worse, he's healthy.

This season could very well be a bit of a redshirt year for Winfree. One thing to remember is, he wasn't even expected to be drafted by many NFL "experts" so he was always viewed as a bit of a project.

Back in the preseason, Winfree flashed the potential to be a solid wide receiver. The bigger issue here is the Broncos offensive system simply doesn't generate enough targets for receivers further down on the depth chart.

At this point in time, it appears DaeSean Hamilton is second in line for WR targets behind Sutton. Behind those two, it appears Fred Brown and Diontae Spencer are next in line for targets before Winfree.

Maybe things will change between now and the end of the year, but at this point in time, it doesn't appear that Winfree will make much of a mark on the 2019 season.

Josey Jewell, LB (New Rank: #36, down 6 spots)

Speaking of players that have had a hard time seeing the field, Jewell has really fallen out of favor with the coaching staff in recent weeks. Since starting out playing 92% of the snaps in the first three weeks of the season, he has logged just 16 total defense snaps in the last four weeks.

A lot of this can be attributed to both the return of Todd Davis and the emergence of Alexander Johnson. Many view Jewell as a similar type of player to Davis, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency after the season. So even though Jewell has lost his spot this season, it's possible he's the first option to replace Davis this offseason.

The one thing Jewell does have going for him though is his special teams play, which has been a nice positive in that same four-week span where he logged very few defensive snaps.

Joe Flacco, QB (New Rank: #49, down 11 spots)

Flacco is now on IR with a herniated disk in his neck, effectively ending his 2019 campaign. Furthermore, it's very possible his tenure in Denver is already up, after going a putrid 2-6 in eight total starts.

At this point in time, it's difficult to imagine GM John Elway finishing out this season and still thinking Flacco fits into the plans for 2020 and beyond. The team can save around $10 million by letting him go, which is money that can be put to very good use to re-sign key players like the ones aforementioned above.

Even in the worst-case scenario of what happens with Drew Lock and Brandon Allen, it's hard to imagine being ok paying Flacco his full $23,650,000 salary in 2020 given what we saw this year.

But if you remember, Elway also said publicly that Flacco was in his prime. So I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well there you go, Broncos Country. That's your Broncos stock report coming out of Week 9. Chime in with your thoughts below.

Follow Trevor on Twitter @TrevorJudge and @MileHighHuddle.

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