6 Broncos players who need a strong performance vs. Packers

After a dominant win over the Atlanta Falcons last Friday, the Denver Broncos will hit the field for their second preseason game on Friday night. This time, they will be in the friendly confines of Empower Field to welcome in the Green Bay Packers.

With the preseason slowly ticking away, we are inching closer to the kickoff of the regular season. But that also means the end of the road — at least in terms of being on the 53-man roster — for several members of the current team.

Many of the decisions have been made as far as which players will help make up the team in Denver this year, but there is still time for players to give a strong impression and, at the very least, make cutting them that much more difficult.

On Friday night, fans should keep a lookful eye for these players, who need to make a strong impression before it’s too late.

players who need to step up against Green Bay

The Broncos stated that the team would hold a competition for the backup quarterback job between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger this summer. Many Broncos fans felt that Ehlinger could win that competition based on the poor performance Stidham had in last year’s AFC Championship game.

But after last week’s game against Atlanta, it’s difficult to see Stidham being replaced. Ehlinger is running out of time to unseat him, and he will need to play a strong, mistake-free game against Green Bay whenever he gets the chance on Friday.

It seems increasingly likely that the Broncos will keep only five wide receivers on the final 53-man roster due to the depth they have with those five guys, but Hakeem Butler may be the one receiver on the current roster that could change that opinion due to his height.

Butler has been quiet of late and needs to show something.

One of the Broncos’ tight ends needs to do something, or it will be easy to just keep Evan Engram, Adam Trautman and Justin Joly on the final roster. Nate Adkins offers upside as a blocker and would be a tough cut, but he needs to show that he should be kept around.

With the season-ending broken leg suffered by Levelle Bailey last week, there is one less player in the competition at inside linebacker behind starters Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad. Jordan Turner is a guy who could slide onto the final roster along with seventh-round pick Red Murdock, but he’ll have to outwork guys like Karene Reid and Taurean York to make that happen.

Despite registering a sack last week, Drew Sanders is likely still on the wrong side of the roster bubble. And truthfully, that might be the case no matter how he performs in the last two preseason games. Still, playing at a high level could increase his potential trade value along with his chances of continuing his career with a different team.

The Broncos signed veteran safety Taylor Rapp on Thursday, an indication that the team wasn’t comfortable with its depth at the position.

JL Skinner has been with the team since being selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft, but he hasn’t been much of a defensive presence in that time. The Broncos likely favor Devon Key as a special teams safety and seventh-round pick Miles Scott could be prioritized over Skinner in the final pecking order.

Making a big defensive play against the Packers would be huge for Skinner.

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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: 6 Broncos players who need a strong performance vs. Packers