Player grades for Broncos' preseason Game 1 revealed

If you have been a follower of Mile High Huddle for a while, you know about my grades. If you are new them, welcome.

Here's how it works. This grading system is one that I have refined over the past few years. Players get graded on their performance and impact on a given play.

The higher the grade means obviously that they made a more positive impact, while lower marks mean they had plays with negative impact. Each snap a player is involved in has the potential to change their grade one way or the other.

Now, the impact of the play is also graded. A player doing something bad away from the point of attack won’t have as big of a negative hit as someone who did something negative right in the muss.

For example, a receiver whiffing a block on the opposite side of the field away from a run won’t have as big of a negative impact as a receiver in the direction of the run coming up short.

There are 21 players that I'll cover in this article — seven that stood out in a positive way, seven negative and seven others that could fall into either category that just didn’t make one side of the line for differing reasons. Let's get to it.

Khalfani Muhammad, RB: 87.8

There are other players with a higher grade, but make no mistake, Muhammad stole the game. He was quick, sharp and hard to defend for the Falcons' defense.

Muhammad has good speed to get to the edge and turn the corner that not many defenders were able to stay with. Not only that, but for his size, he runs hard and tough and he can continue to shine in this Broncos' scheme.

Dalton Risner, LG: 91.2

What a debut for the rookie! Risner earned a 72.5 grade from Pro Football Focus, which has a drastically different grading system than my own.

However, it is another grading system that shows just how good he was. It wasn’t a perfect showing, and if he had been facing tougher competition the struggles would have been exploited more, but it was still an excellent game.

Juwann Winfree, WR: 82.3

With a bad drop early, Winfree was able to recover with the game-winning touchdown. He ran good routes and gave corners some issues sticking with him.

His first-quarter drop was bad, but he didn’t let it hold him back through the game.

Isaac Yiadom, CB: 85.6

Yiadom was tough in coverage, and stuck close to his assignments. It was only a preseason game and he wasn’t facing NFL starters, but his technique looked vastly improved and the game seems to have slowed down for him.

Su’a Cravens, S: 90.2

What a difference for Cravens from last year to this year. He looks quicker, stronger and faster.

And he also seems more 'in the game' than he did last year. Cravens can be a really intriguing piece on defense if he keeps this up.

Quinn Bailey, OT: 77.6

There are players who had higher grades than Bailey, but he made this list for a bit of a personal reason. I was never high on Bailey heading into the Draft but he stepped on that field and put together a really solid game, which shocked me.

There is a lot that still needs to be cleaned up in his game, but he showed something that is worth keeping around and working with that I wasn’t expecting.

Malik Reed, OLB: 97.8

Malik Reed sacks the QB in Denver's 14-10 preseason victory over Atlanta. :: Joe Robbins/Getty

Reed is my star of the game. He was all over the place on defense and a major mismatch against the Falcons' depth on their offensive line. Yes, he was playing against depth players, but his technique was solid and he was quick with his pass rush attack plan.

Drew Lock, QB: 43.2

For the first negative we have the rookie quarterback. There is no reason to panic, it was clear there were nerves, as expected.

There were some positives with Lock, and some good throws that ended with drops. Pressure was an issue he faced consistently as well.

It is clear that Lock is still a ways off from being ready, but I saw technical and fundamental progress from where he was pre-draft.

Steve Dunbar, WR: 17.9

With the second-most catches on the team, Dunbar still gets the lowest grade on the team. His fumble had a big part in that. It was a bad play at an inopportune time.

There were other negative plays that came with Dunbar as a blocker. As a receiver, he struggled to get separation which also kept his grade low.

Noah Fant, TE: 39.1

It was a disappointing showing for the first-round pick. My personal expectation was low for Fant in this game, but he still somehow managed to disappoint.

Drops are going to be a thing with Fant, and that showed up in the game as well. It's something the coaches have to make a point of focus in order to fix.

Linden Stephens, CB: 28.3

Stephens was getting picked on and that's because he struggled to stick with his man. He has good speed, but he didn’t show much else during the game.

Stephens is highly unlikely to make the roster, and his game was bad enough to take a step away from the practice squad.

Devontae Jackson, RB: 41.1

The term 'explosive playmaker' was used to describe Jackson during camp, but that was not what showed during Game 1. He looked like he had good speed, but not that coveted breakaway speed.

For as much hype as he was getting in cap, it did not translate to his first game, and with the Broncos bringing in Theo Riddick, it doesn’t bode well for Jackson.

Sam Jones, OG: 33.7

There were a few positive plays from Jones’ time on in the game, but far more negative. He showed some improvement from a year ago, but he looked far from ready for starting action, which thankfully he isn’t looking at.

Jamal Carter, S: 38.6

Carter's rookie year was promising, but after an early injury in 2018, Carter didn’t have a chance to build on it. He looked slow and unsure of himself and a couple of times, made some bad reads on the ball-carrier.

Could Carter go from being a promising rookie to a third-year cut? It sucks, but with how Cravens played and the other safeties on the roster showing out, Carter can’t afford bad performances like this.

Other mentions

DeMarcus Walker, DE: 68.1

Walker had a coverage sack and few good pressures. He also got washed out of plays a few times, playing with poor leverage and discipline.

He needs to be more consistent in those areas, but it was still a solid showing to build on a good week of practice.

DeShawn Williams, DL: 63.9

While Williams didn’t have any sacks, he was a little more stout against the run and didn’t get washed out of plays as often as Walker did. Still, we need to see more big impact plays from Williams, but he looked like a solid depth option out there.

Kevin Hogan, QB: 65.2

It wasn’t good, but wasn’t bad. It was a decent performance, which Hogan needed after the training camp performance he's had with all the interceptions.

Brett Rypien, QB: 66.1

Some throws were way off the mark, but Rypien had good timing and placement on others. He got bailed out on the game-winning touchdown pass, but managed to make some solid throws at other points in the game.

Garett Bolles, LT: 73.2

Bolles saw a little action early in the game and was decent. He could have been better, of course, but he actually looked like a good left tackle out there.

His technique was improved, which is great, but we didn’t get to see him make a mistake and see how he handled it.

Trey Marshall, S: 79.2

Marshall almost made the list of positives but I wanted to point out others more. He is pushing for a roster spot, and had a solid performance to help push for it.

Chaz Green, OL: 49.2

Green struggled mightily at left tackle, especially in pass protection. He was brought in to compete for the swing tackle position, but what he showed looked like someone who shouldn't be playing left tackle.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.

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