SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After a relatively inauspicious first-team start, the Broncos’ reserve brigade cleaned up in a 30-9 win over San Francisco in their first preseason game of 2025. Here’s a look at the Denver stock that rose and fell on Saturday night.
Stock up
Trent Sherfield, WR: Toss a few stacks into the Sherfield 500 fund, at your earliest convenience. After keying in on the free-agent wideout with a two-year deal this spring, Sherfield’s spent the entirety of training camp showing he shouldn’t be viewed as just a specialist. He’s shown sticky hands. He’s shown some burst. And it all culminated in a preseason breakout Saturday for a 29-year-old NFL vet.
Late in the first half, with Denver’s second-team offense pushing on a two-minute drill, backup QB Jarrett Stidham lofted a go-ball down the right sideline for Sherfield. In a flash, he held off a 49ers defensive back in one-on-one coverage and toppled to the turf in the end zone with a toe-tap score. Sherfield caught two more balls, too, to finish with a team-leading 73 yards.
It’s hard to believe the seven-year veteran has never caught more than 30 balls in any season, but Sherfield looks like a key part of Denver’s rotation at wide receiver as a run-blocker. Don’t be surprised if his number gets called occasionally.
Jarrett Stidham, QB: Speaking of Stidham … he was the best quarterback on the turf Saturday night, by a mile. Yes, it’s the preseason. But after an up-and-down camp, Stidham came out firing bullets against San Francisco — and showcased several daring dashes of surprising athleticism for a second-string QB. The throw to Sherfield, for one, was perfectly placed in the bread basket, and Stidham finished 14 of 15 for 136 yards and a couple of scores in a near-flawless performance dropping back. He ran for 36 yards on a few nice scrambles, too, but fumbled once. Too much dip on the chip.
Kris Abrams-Draine, CB: Is there an easy path to snaps for Abrams-Draine in a loaded Denver cornerback rotation? No. Should there be? Hard to say. Does the tape say he deserves it? Absolutely. The second-year corner has broken up passes throughout camp and added to his growing resume with a PBU and a would-be pick Saturday night, if not for a hands-to-the-face penalty on Eyioma Uwazurike. If nothing else, Abrams-Draine has made a strong claim to a spot on the Broncos’ 53-man roster, especially after his strong play in two spot starts last year.
Tyler Badie and Blake Watson, RB: On Thursday, Payton hinted that reserve back Tyler Badie was “in the thick of it” competing with a group of backs for a “spot or two.” Payton is not one to toss out “spot or two” casually. RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins are locks, and it’s hard to see Payton cutting Jaleel McLaughlin. That leaves Badie, Blake Watson and Audric Estime competing for a spot — or two.
Based purely on Saturday, Badie and Watson staked their claim. Both flashed wheels and beat defenders to the outside, with Watson notably running through two or three diving San Francisco defenders for an 18-yard gain. Both, too, caught passes out of the backfield, and Badie led all backs with 32 yards on five carries.
Stock down
Broncos’ first-team O: Yeah, not great. San Francisco rested their starters Saturday, and the Broncos’ top unit couldn’t take advantage. Denver went 0 of 4 on third down, with some ugliness sprinkled in. Top wideout Courtland Sutton dropped a beautiful second-drive toss from Nix down the left sideline that could’ve opened the floodgates. Nix took an intentional-grounding penalty in his own end zone and gave up a safety. Starting back RJ Harvey ran for 25 yards on seven carries.
“I don’t know if they felt like the other day they got the work in,” Payton said postgame, referencing Denver’s joint practice with San Francisco on Thursday. “But nonetheless, it was just average to below-average.”
Reserve OL: In a theme from training camp that’s now become concerning, the Broncos’ second and third-string offensive lines weren’t great. Second-string tackle Alex Palczewski had two false-start penalties, and third-string tackle Frank Crum ran ineligible downfield and negated a beautiful Watson gain. Third-string center Joe Michalski, too, continued to have visible trouble with snaps to quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Coach Zach Strief has some ugly tape on his hands to deal with Sunday.
Jeremy Crawshaw, P: Throughout camp, special-teams coach Darren Rizzi has pointed to Crawshaw’s need for consistency, even as he’s praised the rookie’s raw talent. It showed on Saturday. Crawshaw averaged 37 yards on his three punts and fired off a less-than-inspiring 25-yard boot from San Francisco’s 45-yard line. This is a point to monitor throughout preseason, as the Broncos don’t have another punter on the roster and spent a sixth-round pick on Crawshaw.
Anyone in Payton’s line of fire: The Broncos’ head coach wasn’t exactly incensed Saturday night. But he was rather clear, postgame, that something — or several things — had gone wrong with operational planning on this jaunt down to Santa Clara.
“This is the first road trip for us,” Payton said, “and I’ve got 14 things written down that I’m pissed off about that had nothing to do with the game.”
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