{"id":841881,"date":"2026-09-23T11:36:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/841881\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:36:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:36:40","slug":"can-broncos-afford-to-keep-riley-moss-if-he-keeps-playing-this-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/841881\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Broncos afford to keep Riley Moss if he keeps playing this well?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What changed with the defense from Week 1 to Week 2? We seemed super lethargic against the Chiefs, but we were harassing Trevor Lawrence throughout the game on Sunday. What happened during practice this week? We were making tackles and just looking generally more active.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Morris W., Parker<\/p>\n

Hey Morris, thanks for writing in. A lot changed from an energy perspective, like you said, and the biggest result was a simple one: The Broncos tackled much better against Jacksonville<\/a> than against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

As for pressuring Trevor Lawrence, yes, Denver did a good job despite finishing the game with two sacks. I think the bigger change, though, was the way in which the Broncos played against the run.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t matter what level of football you\u2019re talking about, if you don\u2019t stop the run, you\u2019re not going to have many opportunities to rush the passer. Denver\u2019s biggest issue against Kansas City was that they got so dominated on the ground that the Chiefs dictated when they wanted to throw the ball rather than the Broncos pinning them in must-pass situations.<\/p>\n

Denver was substantially better against the run in Week 2 against Jacksonville, though it wasn\u2019t perfect. The good: The Broncos didn\u2019t allow a single rush over 16 yards and they didn\u2019t get repeatedly gashed. They also didn\u2019t let Lawrence do too much damage with his legs.<\/p>\n

At the same time, they did allow 4.0 yards per carry. In 2025, the Broncos defense held 10 of 17 opponents \u2014 including Jacksonville \u2014 below that number.<\/p>\n

All that said, the simple answer is the Broncos defense had a bad opening night. They looked much more like themselves in Week 2. And they\u2019ve got a string of really substantial challenges ahead here.<\/p>\n

Riley Moss was a beast! He had one pick and almost another one that probably could\u2019ve gone to the house. There was a lot of talk about Bo Nix making major gains this year, but how about Moss? He\u2019s a free agent next year. Will we re-sign him? Can we afford him if he gets to Pro Bowl level?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark, Arvada<\/p>\n

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in. And yeah, Riley Moss overall played well against Jacksonville. The illegal contact penalty he had early in the game wiped away a strip sack and recovery, which was obviously a big moment, but he had tight coverage from then on and, of course, took the ball away himself with the second-half interception.<\/p>\n

This is what Moss has done all summer, really. The list of players who had a better training camp than he did is short.<\/p>\n

The question about re-signing him is a good one and one of the bigger outstanding pieces of business the Broncos have between now and the end of the season. They didn\u2019t get an extension done with Moss, nickel Ja\u2019Quan McMillian or any of the other players heading into the final years of their contracts this fall.<\/p>\n

The next natural time on the calendar for these types of things to get done is on the bye week, which is in the middle of November and right in the middle of the season. So far, Broncos brass hasn\u2019t let on too much about the impact that Bo Nix has in this conversation, but he is extension-eligible after this season.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean the Broncos and Nix have to reach an agreement right away, but it does enter the picture in a real way. By the middle of the season, the Broncos will have that much more data on what their roster looks like, how this group of contract-year guys are playing and so forth. At some point, they\u2019re going to have to start making some decisions about who in the non-quarterback category becomes a priority to keep. They\u2019d probably love to retain almost all of their players.<\/p>\n

This roster is in that good a place currently. But that\u2019s just not going to be possible long-term. Is it Moss or McMillian? Is it both, but then letting guys at multiple other positions walk? Is Jahdae Barron the future at nickel, on the perimeter or at safety? There are just a lot of questions to answer and my read is that the Broncos just weren\u2019t going to be rushed into starting to put the pieces into place without seeing at least part \u2014 or maybe most\/all of this season unfold. That\u2019s a fine way to proceed on their end and really, probably is smart business. But the time when those decisions go from future to current business, including with Moss, will start creeping up here before long.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re two weeks in and it feels like we may have a controversy at RB1. Jonah Coleman looked really good in the fourth quarter on Sunday. With J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey ailing, do you think Coleman will get a crack at RB1 against the Rams?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rich, Denver<\/p>\n

Hey Rich, thanks for writing in and for the interesting question.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Jonah Coleman will be RB1<\/a> against the Rams on Sunday night unless at least J.K. Dobbins is out with the hamstring injury and perhaps only if both Dobbins and Harvey are out. The Week 1 pecking order went the way it did for a reason. For as promising as Coleman is, the Broncos clearly had both Dobbins and Harvey in more prominent roles than the rookie in Week 1.<\/p>\n

Now, the NFL is the ultimate game-planning league, so the plan for Coleman could vary depending on the opponent. Not only that, but his performance in game-on-the-line situations against Jacksonville is going to carry weight with the coaching staff. Payton himself said Monday that they believe any of the three could be a featured back.<\/p>\n

So while I don\u2019t think Coleman is suddenly going to be the lead guy if the room is healthy, I would also be surprised if he plays four snaps again like he did against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always important to keep in mind, though, that depth always matters in the NFL. If Coleman doesn\u2019t have a big role in Week 3, he might in Week 14. If that happens, he\u2019s going to be a critical component. Same goes for other players who Denver thinks highly of but maybe aren\u2019t playing a ton right now, like defensive back Jahdae Barron, offensive lineman Alex Palczewski, receiver Troy Franklin and more.<\/p>\n

For Bo Nix to be the quarterback of the future, it seems we\u2019d see signs of a higher ceiling. In my opinion, he\u2019s been excellent in one game (against the Packers). That\u2019s the one game he showed franchise potential. One or two late drives in otherwise mediocre performances seem to get all the headlines. Tell me why I am wrong. I would rather believe.<\/p>\n

\u2014 I Young, Denver<\/p>\n

Hey IY, thanks for writing in.<\/p>\n

You have a very fair point in an overarching sense, but I will disagree with you on the one game. Certainly, Nix played terrific football against the Packers that day. There are a bunch of other gaudy stat lines you can look at, from Dallas and Cincinnati last year to Atlanta, Carolina and a couple others his rookie season. If you want to say those are all against bad defenses, there\u2019s an argument there. But he has also authored big moments that weren\u2019t just crazy fourth-quarter comebacks, like lining the Broncos up to win at Arrowhead as a rookie before the field goal got blocked.<\/p>\n

Probably the best example outside of the Green Bay game, though, is the playoff win against Buffalo back in January. It gets overshadowed by the ankle fracture, but in that game Nix went blow for blow with Josh Allen, threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns against one interception and led a go-ahead touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation. If there\u2019s a single game that says \u201cfranchise quarterback,\u201d it\u2019s that one.<\/p>\n

Broncos leadership, including Payton, general manager George Paton and owner Greg Penner have all said repeatedly that they love Nix and what he\u2019s done in his first two seasons. The locker room considers him the foremost leader on the team. Everybody I\u2019ve talked to in the organization talks about him like he\u2019s going to be here for a decade-plus and he\u2019ll continue to ascend and all of that.<\/p>\n

One of the questions about Nix coming out of the draft was about \u201cceiling.\u201d That can go multiple ways, though. He clearly has the physical tools to play quarterback at a high level. He is also a smart guy and, by all accounts, works really hard. Part of the ceiling consideration at quarterback is how a player masters the mental side of the game. Part of what has been so impressive about watching Allen in Buffalo so far this season is the way in which he\u2019s not only still a physical marvel at the position but that he\u2019s now paired it with truly ascending to, like, Jedi status.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s a really extensive list of factors that ultimately determine what somebody\u2019s ceiling is.<\/p>\n

It is also just reality in the NFL that life changes a lot for a club when it pays a quarterback $50 million, $55 million, or $60 million a year.\u00a0 The salary cap can be managed, to be sure, but you can\u2019t keep everybody once you pay the quarterback.<\/p>\n

Teams will sign up for that conundrum in a heartbeat if it means truly having a franchise quarterback. The teams that have those guys ultimately tend to be in the mix most years despite having giant financial commitments to one player. It\u2019s that important and that valuable and we see it year in and year out.<\/p>\n

Where teams get in trouble, naturally, is if they pay a quarterback to be the franchise guy and he\u2019s not. The Broncos got through it with Russell Wilson in relatively short order, which was impressive. Miami and Cleveland are among the teams currently navigating the fallout of getting that decision wrong. Perhaps there are teams out there that feel like they\u2019re somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, the Broncos are going to get almost another entire season of play from Nix before he even becomes eligible for an extension post-2026 season. Payton has been bullish on his Year 3 track.<\/p>\n

Asked why Nix might not get much love nationally after several outlets ranked him in the middle of the NFL pack before the season started, Payton said he thought it might be about pre-draft evaluations of Nix and also about Denver not playing on the East Coast. He added, \u201cGenerally, time will give you those answers. We love what we\u2019re seeing. Again, (quarterbacks are) measured by wins and they\u2019re measured by certain things. Ultimately that\u2019s how history will be written about any of them, the quarterbacks specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be a lot of discourse about Nix, a second contract and all the rest over the coming months and that\u2019s all fair game. It\u2019s also possible that time will give everybody very clear answers between now and next offseason.<\/p>\n

After two games, what flaws are you seeing with this Broncos team? And what\u2019s easily fixable?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Hey Ed, thanks for writing in. Let\u2019s quick-hit this thing.<\/p>\n

The tackling was clearly pretty quick to fix. Denver was much better against Jacksonville than against Kansas City.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure the Broncos\u2019 offensive line has had a really good outing overall yet. Those players are supposed to be the strength of the team. They definitely weren\u2019t bad against Jacksonville, but there were some inconsistent moments. The expectation there would be that they find their stride and play well, though, as we\u2019ve said before, at some point the benefits that come with experience start to get handicapped by age. Too early to say that\u2019s happening to the Broncos, but it\u2019s worth monitoring.<\/p>\n

Also, there\u2019s still an open question about depth at some positions on defense, including safety and inside linebacker. The Broncos have been fine on the defensive line and at outside linebacker, too, but it\u2019s fair to say they\u2019ve missed Jonathon Cooper on the edge. How that depth wears over the course of the season at multiple positions will matter by the time the stretch run arrives.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,2858,301,2863,187,3943,6,9,302],"class_list":["post-841881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-basketball","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117320154114132528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}