Broncos still like their OLB depth even without Jonathon Cooper

The Denver Broncos have lost one of their top defensive players to start the season, but it doesn't seem like the team is sounding off any alarms.

Just as teams were finalizing their 53-man rosters ahead of Sunday's deadline, it was announced that outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper was placed on the commissioner's exempt list to begin the season. This, of course, stems from a pair of arrests after alleged domestic violence incidents in June. As a result, he cannot practice with the team or play in any games as long as he is on that list.

This will force the Broncos to turn to third-year player Jonah Elliss in his absence, and both Que Robinson and Dondrea Tillman could get into games as situational pass rushers as well. However, that doesn't seem to bother general manager George Paton.

"These guys have all played in big games and done well," Paton said on his trust level in the outside linebacker depth with Elliss, Robinson and Tillman. "All these guys we feel like can play. We like the depth there. We led the league in sacks the last two years, and these guys were all a part of that. Que coming on late. I think you saw what Que did in the New England game late in the season, even the Houston game last year and some of the things he did.

"Then you watched him in training camp and the games this year. We feel really good about him. Then Jonah and obviously 'Tilly' and Nik, these guys have played and have done well. Depth-wise, we'll be looking a little bit, looking on the practice squad and we'll be looking around. You can never have enough pass rushers, so we'll kind of see how that goes".

Broncos could look at free agency or practice squads for help

Some of the top veteran free-agent options at outside linebacker include Haasan Reddick, Kyle Van Noy and Leonard Floyd. All of those players have shown the ability to create havoc on defense and while they may no longer be every-down players, they might be solid options until Cooper's situation is resolved.

On their own practice squad , the Broncos have Johnny Walker and international pathway player David Agoha. Agoha is nowhere near ready to play in an NFL game, but Walker could be an option in a desperate situation. The Broncos will likely also scour the practice squads around the league in search of a potential option to poach from another team.

It will be interesting to see how things play out, but it should be expected that the Broncos will roll with what they have until Cooper returns.

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