DENVER — Jarrett Stidham received a very brief opportunity to secure the Broncos’ No. 2 quarterback position behing rookie starter Bo Nix.
The veteran made the most of it. Will it be enough? Zach Wilson's follow-up performance stated he's got a case, too.
Given one series, Stidham led the Broncos on a 10-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by rookie running back Audric Estime. The Broncos cruised past the Arizona Cardinals, 38-12 in the final preseason game on a warm Sunday afternoon before a modest gathering at Empower Field at Mile High.
Stidham has been the take-for-granted quarterback of the Broncos' preseason. He only took 11 snaps in the first preseason game at Indianapolis. He got roughly the same number of snaps as Bo Nix and Wilson in the second preseason game against Green Bay. He was in for just the 10 plays Sunday against Arizona.
“I think they know what I can do,'' Stidham said in the victorious home locker room. "I think I displayed that last year when I was asked to come in and play the last two games and then throughout practice, throughout training camp, OTAs the whole thing.
"At the end of the day I’m going to go out there and do what I do. I’m very confident what I can do and do whatever I can to help this team.”
Stidham only completed two passes on the opening drive, but they were significant. The first to Estime went for 14 yards to convert a second-and-9. Stidham them drilled a 14-yard slant to a tightly covered Devaughn Vele to convert a fourth-and-2.
Estime was also finished after the first series. He had 18 yards on 5 hard-running carries.
The rest of the game belonged to No. 3 quarterback Zach Wilson, who was receiving an extended audition for the No. 2 quarterback behind rookie starter Bo Nix.
“We feel comfortable with those three quarterbacks,'' said head coach Sean Payton. "I think I have told you already, but I see the three of them making it.”
He didn't put it quite that strongly during his press conference Friday but he's said it now. Keeping three still leaves the question, though, of who is the No. 2 quarterback?
Wilson was 16 of 25 for 251 yards with touchdown passes of 1 yard to tight end Nate Adkins and 46 yards to receiver Brandon Johnson for an impressive 123.9 passer rating. He also had completions of 38 yards to Johnson, 24 yards to David Sills V, 19 yards to rookie Troy Franklin, 19 yards to Adkins and 17 yards to the fiesty Michael Bandy.
Wilson also scrambled for 21 yards on one play during his 77-yard touchdown drive in the first half, and had a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown in the second half.
“We’ve all been there before,'' Wilson said. "We all want to play, we all want to be on the team, we all want to do our best, but we understand the other person’s side of it. So we all have each other’s back. I always want them to do the best they can. We’re not competing against each other because there’s spots everywhere, all around the league, so we all want each other to do well.
"Same thing with Bo, I want him to play his best football. If I can be of any sort of resource or help to him, you know the same thing. You want to have a unified room that everyone can go in there and talk ball and talk protections and third downs or whatever and bounce ideas off of each other. Ultimately, those are the best quarterback rooms.”
The Broncos finished the preseason 3-0, one of six teams to go undefeated in games that don't count. The others were the Bears, Jaguars, Jets, Vikings and Titans. While preseason play may not be an accurate barometer for the regular season -- the poster child is the 2008 Detroit Lions, who were 4-0 in the preseason; 0-16 in the regular season -- the confidence boost can't hurt a Broncos team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2015.
"I just told them Denver was good,'' said Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon when asked what he told his team after the game.
“I said to them afterwards, do not ever get tired of how it feels to win,'' Payton said. "We are substituting groups, and we are needing to get different groups evaluated and yet we still want to win. I felt the energy, and I think anybody that was on the sidelines felt it. That part of it is encouraging. The guys that are not in recognize how important it is for the guys that are in. That is what you want from your team.”
The Broncos must trim their 90-man roster to 53 by 2 p.m. Tuesday. Expect the Broncos to make five to 10 cuts Monday and the rest Tuesday.
Two roster moves can already be written down as injured outside linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) and safety Dellarin Turner-Yell (ACL) will be placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
One player who made a strong case to earn a backup defensive line spot was former Air Force standout Jordan Jackson. He had two sacks in the final test against the Cardinals – one in each of the first two series. Jackson, who spent the past two seasons on practice squads for the New Orleans Saints (2022) and Broncos (2023), had been trending as Denver’s No. 5 defensive lineman – behind John Franklin-Myers, Zach Allen, D.J. Jones and Malcolm Roach -- entering the final preseason game. The Broncos are expected to keep six defensive linemen on their 53-man roster.
Jackson has always had the big man quickness skills that make him an interior pass-rush threat. He made a leap this offseason by getting considerably stronger.
Is he ready to say goodbye to the practice squad?
"I hope so, we'll see how everything unfolds,'' Jackson said. "But it was good to go out there and play a game like I did."
Undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey, who had been making several big plays in practice of late, had a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown with around 4 minutes left in the game. He was met in the end zone by dozens of teammates, including several "starters" who didn't dress up in a uniform.
"I couldn't catch my breath and celebrate after but it was definitely unforgettable,'' said Bailey.
Bailey may not make the season-opening roster but that doesn't mean he's not going to make many more plays in the NFL.
“Obviously this is a tough time of the year but you can see we get a (94)-yard pick six or whatever it was the whole team went nuts,'' Stidham said. "You don’t see that everywhere.”
Bronco Bits
Cornerback Damarri Mathis, who was expected to make the roster as a backup cornerback, suffered a right ankle injury on the third play of the game and had to be carted off the field. Some good news came when X-rays on his ankle were negative. He will have an MRI exam Monday morning but Payton said initial tests revealed nothing significant. ...
Payton indicated Friday he wanted Brandon Jones, who is making a guaranteed $7 million this year as the Broncos' highest-priced free agent, to play some against the Cardinals after missing the past month with a hamstring injury. But while Jones was dressed in uniform and warmed up, he did not play. Payton said after the game Jones was not supposed to play. Said Jones: "I went through the pregame and then they told me I was good after that. I had a good workout today." Feeling better? "Feel great. Feel great."
Broncos kicker Wil Lutz finished the preseason 12 of 12 on extra points and 5 of 5 in field goals. ...
Blake Watson was the Broncos' leading rusher with 38 yards on 11 carries. Tyler Badie had 32 yards on 10 carries. ...
Johnson finished with two catches for 83 yards. Sills has two catches for 38 yards. ...
The Broncos didn't dress 30 of their top players, including receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey and running back Samaje Perine, veterans who were thought to be on the roster bubble. ...
Besides his 21-yard reception, Franklin had a 9-yard gain on an end around in what was the fourth-round rookie's most productive effort of the preseason. ...
Strnad has primarily been a special teams player the past three years but he lead all defenders with 6 tackles at halftime with a forced fumble and sack. ...
Former Bronco Matt Prater, the NFL's all-time leader in 50-yard or further field goals, made a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
