Laberecke » Plus, a look at which teams significantly improved

The game-day inactives were shaken up a bit this week relative to the week prior. The injury to Will Parks and the (brief) return to health of Ja’Wuan James meant some changes. Recently acquired defensive lineman Jonathan Harris (Denver is trying to corner the market on players with the last name Harris) was a healthy scratch along with two reserve offensive lineman Joe Flacco Jersey White , Jake Rodgers and Calvin Anderson, and fellow defensive lineman Adam Gotsis. The other three inactives are all still injured: Bryce Callahan, Troy Fumagalli and Parks.Offensive Snap PercentageFor ease of reading I am only going to show the last 4 games in the table.James lasted 22 snaps before getting hurt again. He has now played 32 offensive snaps on the season. James has a cap number of $8.0MM for 2019, meaning that were he to play all 16 games he would cost the Broncos $500k per game. For the sake of argument let’s assume he is only making his $5.0MM guaranteed money, meaning that he has earned $2.5MM at this point in the season, or $78,125 per offensive snap. The other four offensive lineman played the whole game together. Elijah Wilkinson has now taken 94% of the snaps for us at RT this season. As an undrafted college free agent his salary is $645k. So he has earned $638 per offensive snap this season. Because of the injuries and ineffectiveness, the Broncos have 9 starters (of 24) who are earning less than one million in salary (cap number) this season, 11 if you count Phillip Lindsay and Colby Wadman. Using yearly cap number here are the 11 Noah Fant played the most that he has in any game so far in his young career. His 82 percent and 60 snaps are both career highs for him. Jeff Heuerman (27 percent) and Andrew Beck (19 percent) played relatively sparingly as the other two TEs. Andy Janovich, as part of the FB/TB group, played his highest percentage of the season at 38 percent. His 28 snaps were also a season high for him. The WR group saw Fred Brown as the big winner after the Emmanuel Sanders trade. Brown played six offensive snaps in game seven and 46 in game eight. Diontae Spencer saw a slight increase in playing time going up to seven snaps on offense (ten percent). Courtland Sutton played his normal 90+ percent of the offensive snaps. Juwann Winfree got four offensive snaps (5 percent). Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman against split the RB reps pretty evenly with Freeman getting one more offensive snap (37 to 36). Devontae Booker continued his string of games with zero offensive snaps. Joining him in the zero offensive snaps group was Austin Schlottman, who was our only active reserve offensive lineman after James’ injury. Defensive Snap AnalysisFour defensive players took every defensive snap: Justin Simmons, Chris Harris, Davontae Harris and Kareem Jackson. Our starting secondary (not counting our nickel CB) played every defensive snap against the Colts. Duke Dawson played 81 percent of the snaps as the nickel CB, which shows how often we had three CBs on the field. Coty Sensabaugh (twelve percent) and Trey Marshall (five percent) were the only other defensive backs to get defensive snaps. Isaac Yiadom has gone from playing nearly every defensive snap in games one and two, to playing less than a street free agent, Sensabaugh, who was signed two weeks ago. He has officially become a wasted draft pick. In the linebacker group, Von Miller (94 percent), Alexander Johnson (91 percent), Malik Reed (88 percent) and Todd Davis (81 percent) hardly left the field. Davis left for a few plays because of some minor injury. Josey Jewell (19 percent) replaced him. Justin Hollins played a few snaps (three percent, two snaps). Jeremiah Attoachu played 14 percent of the snaps. Corey Nelson and Joseph Jones did not get any defensive snaps. The defensive line group was rotated pretty evenly this game with Derek Wolfe (69 percent), Shelby Harris (50 percent), Mike Purcell (39 percent), Dre’Mont Jones (30 percent), and Demarcus Walker (25 percent) splitting reps. Walker was used significantly less vs IND than he was vs KC. How profoundly fortuitous that Joe Flacco (after 2 straight games of some of the most cowardly play this NFL fan has seen in all of his decades of watching football) now has an injury keeping him from playing football.On one hand Womens Courtland Sutton Jersey , I wish the guy a speedy recovery. A ruptured disk is no laughing matter and from what I understand can be quite painful. So as a human to a human, I have nothing but well wishes for the guy dealing with an injury.But as a fan I have to say this honestly is a positive for the Denver Broncos. Fate appears to have done what neither John Elway, nor Vic Fangio could do and benched Joe Flacco so that the team is forced to look at other quarterback options.I want to point out to everyone something you won’t hear on the radio or from the talking heads in the MSM.Drew Lock isn’t ready to take over. I think it is actually very smart of the team to put off running him out there to get killed. I know that everyone is absolutely starving for good football (especially from our offense), but you won’t get that with Lock coming back behind this offensive line with as little work as he’s gotten so far this season. I was honestly encouraged by the progress I was seeing from him in his short couple of weeks of preseason action, but he had a long way to go to be ready as a starter and this injury really throws a kink in his development.But now we get the Brandon Allen show. It could get ugly. But at least I have hope that when the team is in a 3rd and 2+ situation, we’ll have a quarterback who will at least try to make a completion.Denver Broncos News:Brandon Allen comfortable in Broncos offense as he prepares to start vs. Browns; Rypien ready to serve as backup if called uponWith Joe Flacco sidelined with a neck injury, backup quarterback Brandon Allen is prepared for his starting opportunity against the Browns on Sunday. Practice squad QB Brett Rypien is also ready to serve as Allen’s backup, if his number is called.Healthy Drew Lock is 'ready whenever,' trusts Broncos' plan for return“I think they have an awesome plan and whenever they feel like they want to put that plan in place, I’ll be good,Other NFL News:Trent Williams ends holdout, reports to Redskins - NFL.comTrent Williams has ended his holdout. The left tackle reported to the Washington Redskins facility today following the trade deadline, NFL Network's DeAngelo Hall reports.Rams ship CB Aqib Talib, fifth-rounder to Dolphins - NFL.comThe Los Angeles Rams are trading Aqib Talib and a fifth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a late-round future draft pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports.Bengals bench Andy Dalton for rookie Ryan Finley - NFL.comThe Bengals are benching quarterback Andy Dalton in favor of rookie Ryan Finley, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. Finley was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport lays out how New York Jets-Dallas Cowboys trade talks for safety Jamal Adams went down - NFL VideosNFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport breaks down how trade talks for New York Jets safety Jamal Adams played out.Any Given Sunday: Eagles over Bills | Football OutsidersHas Josh Allen really improved, or are the Bills carrying their young quarterback? And what has gone wrong with the Eagles' pass defense since their Super Bowl win two years ago?Week 8 DVOA Ratings | Football OutsidersSan Francisco and New England flip places at the top once again, making the 49ers No. 1 this week. October (Baltimore) and which ones significantly declined (strangely, also Baltimore).NFL Power Rankings Poll, Week 9 - Sports IllustratedWhile teams in the top 10 of the NFL power rankings remain steady, there's movement at the bottom—a rise from the Chargers and a new No. 31!Chargers Fire Offensive Coordinator Ken WhisenhuntThe Chargers fired longtime offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt Monday night after the offense failed to exceed 20 points for the sixth time this season.Bill Belichick Is Considering Coaching Past 70 - Sports IllustratedPatriots head coach Bill Belichick previously said that he's not looking to coach past 70, but it sounds like he's changing his mind.Jets GM Joe Douglas -- Christopher Johnson's words reflect feelings of many within organizationAfter an off-the-cuff comment by Jets CEO Christopher Johnson was caught on camera, GM Joe Douglas said Tuesday that Johnson's words reflected the feelings of "a lot of people in this building -- passionate and frustrated about where we are at 1-6."