No Bull roster status part 1: Defensive Front

A No Bull look at the Denver Broncos defensive line roster, its strengths, weaknesses, and what we can expect George Paton and Sean Payton to target this offseason

With the Denver Broncos offseason kicking off, it is a great time to step back, take a look at the roster, and play a little armchair GM leading up to all of the excitement of possible free-agent signings, trades, and of course the NFL Draft.

Let me give a tip of the hat to www.footballguys.com for their information on snap percentages and www.overthecap.com for their information on current contracts for all players.

All of this is my personal opinion based on my tried-and-true eye test of what I’ve seen from these players on the field this season. For the sake of brevity, I’ll be leaving out guys who didn’t see the field in any significant way in 2024 and most Unrestricted Free Agents.

Enjoy the discussion, join the subjective debate, and share your thoughts (good or bad) in the comments.

We’re kicking this series off by examining the defensive front and determining what holes the Broncos should look to fill in the 2025 NFL offseason.

Player Rating Key:

1. Project / developmental - lacking necessary skills to contribute as it stands today
2. Backup quality - Can play, but isn’t a guy you want out there every snap
3. Average starter - Doesn’t bring anything special to the table, but can do the job
4. Good starter - An above-average talent
5. Blue chip player - Top 10 talent in the NFL at what he does

Unit Rating Key:

1. Critical Need - lack of talent at starter and depth
2. Lacking at least one starter
3. Mediocre need
4. Solid talent and depth
5. Elite talent level

Interior Linemen

Zach Allen - 5

Zach Allen came out of the gates looking like an All-Pro interior lineman and finished the season getting that much-deserved accolade. He’s a force to be reckoned with and the key part of the defensive front that allowed the scheme to set a record for sacks even if it wasn’t him leading the charge on the stat sheet.

A player like Zach Allen is irreplaceable and rare. He’s cast in the mold of a player like J.J. Watt. Allen is a relentless physical player who has a seemingly endless reserve of endurance to draw on throughout a football game.

Allen is smart, and athletic, and uses his hands at an excellent level to fight off opponents and get pressure in the backfield or collapse the pocket. Because of this, he draws a lot of double-teams up front which opens up our edge to one-on-one opportunities.

This is a contract year for Allen as his contract has 3 voided years coming up after this season. I would love to see the Broncos extend Allen, though if they don’t it will be due to how many roster holes they need to fill. If that’s the path...