I thought this was gonna be a way more interesting scouting watch since both teams sent out their first-string (mostly) offenses and defenses to start the game. But the starters were in for just a flash, so it was hard to get a real feel for anything or any player, per se.
My main overview takeaway from watching the two first teams work was that Denver was uber-aggressive on defense with both their first and second-team units. Green Bay responded in their passive/subdued way, which didn’t stop the Packers’ offense from driving right down the field and scoring a touchdown to lead off the game against this higher-level, aggressive Broncos defense. Kudos to the Packers for blocking out the noise and taking control for a score. The Denver offense answered right back with a score of its own with the first-team offense, and the takeaway I got from their matchup with the first-team Packers defense is—the Packers D is quite lacking at this point and is nowhere near what Denver is working with.
But I guess looks can be deceiving because when they quickly went to some of their second-teamers and Denver was leaving in some of its first-team defense, the Packers found a way to move the ball and ultimately Green Bay took a 23-10 lead into halftime. And then in the second half, with a lot of 3rd and 4th-team players going, the Packers pulled away even more. Considering a fired up the Denver home crowd for a basic preseason game--the way the Packers kicked them in the gut here deserves some praise. Still, despite the 20-point loss, it just felt like the Broncos were the better team, oddly.
We’re gonna transition to the player notes section, and usually in the preseason I like to go by the order of things that got my attention the most, good or bad, from the game tape analysis, but on this one I really didn’t have a note that just screamed out, so I’m going to give my notes somewhat in the order I took them to keep some continuity and take you along with the flow of the game.
Player Notes…
– Green Bay was on offense first, and their first 2 plays were passes from Jordan Love (5-7 for 56 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 0-0-0)… and both of those passes were to Christian Watson (0-0-0, 2-19-0/3) who’s just looking fantastic physically and movement-skill wise. He’s moving and looking like a #1 wide receiver, an alpha #1. If he can just stay healthy… It goes without saying, Christian Watson looked like the favorite target for Jordan Love. But with no Jayden Reed, no Tucker Kraft, and no Josh Jacobs, I don’t know how much we can definitively say Watson over everything...but it looked promising here.
– On the first series, on the first set of three downs off the bat for Green Bay, MarShawn Lloyd (5-19-0, 0-0-0/1) was the running back for first and second down and then Chris Brooks (6-26-0, 1-13-0/1) came in on 3rd down. I thought that was worth noting. At this stage they don’t trust MarShawn Lloyd on 3rd down to protect Jordan Love, so why would people think Lloyd is going to be some kind of third-down back? He is no threat to Josh Jacobs, but he’s fine enough for NFL usage as needed.
– RJ Harvey (1-5-0, 2-25-1/2) got all the work with the first team on their opening scoring drive and then on the second drive with Denver’s first-team offense still in there, Jonah Coleman (3-9-0, 1-0-0/1) came in. I thought Jonah Coleman looked fine. He’s a legit good NFL running back. I don’t know if he’s a future superstar, but he’s very competent running between the tackles and working in the passing game. His superpower might be not being great at any one thing but being good at everything. I don’t get the feeling that Jonah Coleman is overtaking RJ Harvey at this point, and for sure he is not bumping J.K. Dobbins (0-0-0, 0-0-0/0) yet. If something were to happen to J.K. Dobbins early on, they would likely go to a Harvey/Coleman split.
– I wrote a note that was a throwaway thought at the time, during my studies, but the more I look at it the more in made an impression on me: the Denver 2026 preseason offense looks 10 times better than Denver’s 2025 preseason offense. With a new offensive coordinator, Bo Nix (6-9 for 76 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 1-2-0) looks 100% healed with no hesitations from his broken foot. Jaylen Waddle (1-35-0/1) helps things, Jonah Coleman gives them more depth, and Pat Bryant (0-0-0/1) is coming on. This is a very dangerous Denver team. I’m getting less and less cavalier about how much better the Los Angeles Chargers are than anyone else in the AFC West.
– Evan Engram (0-0-0/0) played with the first team some. Evan Engram played with the second team some, as did Adam Trautman (1-4-0/1), and you wouldn’t have even known that Evan Engram was on the field at all. Just like last preseason, Evan Engram was a ghost.
– Jarrett Stidham (7-11 for 81 yards, 0 TD/1 INT, 0-0-0) was the second QB in for Denver and he looked solid; he’s just a very capable backup. Sam Ehlinger (3-6 for 26 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 0-0-0) wrapped up the game and he is looking better and better but he’s not ready to overtake Jarrett Stidham at this point.
– A deeper named player that got my attention: Will Sheppard (6-47-1, 6-47-1/6), a second-year WR out of Colorado for Denver. Sheppard has some NFL skills. He’s probably only gonna be a #4 or #5 WR type, but it’s something. He might be the Packers’ new Malik Heath.
– I was waiting to see Justin Joly (2-14-0, 2-14-0/2) come into the game, and it was a bit disappointing. He was in with the very last group late in the game. I watched him run his routes and it’s the Joly that I fear for any type of fantasy future… slow release into his route but then phenomenal hands. He’s not open but if you can get him the ball towards his hands he’s gonna catch it. One of the best hands, top 2-3 hands of any player in this draft...the rest of it is a concern.
– I saved the best for last… The Green Bay Packers rookie kicker Trey Smack (4-4 FG, 3-3 XP) is fantastic. He was 4-for-4 on field goals in this game, following up a 5-for-5 debut last week. He hit multiple 50-plus yarders last week and hit a 59-yarder in this game. I have seen enough; I am pushing him even further up the draft guide rankings. There’s more and more great kicker talent hitting the NFL to the point that you don’t need to bet your entire FF roster plan on Brandon Aubrey. Cam Little from Jacksonville is especially on the radar to possibly surpass Brandon Aubrey, and Cam Little is like 8 years younger. It’s worth getting some level of excited over Trey Smack.
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