The Denver Broncos have promoted fullback Adam Prentice to the active roster ahead of their Week 4 road game against the San Francisco 49ers.
According to The Denver Gazette‘s Chris Tomasson, Prentice is now on the 53-man roster. To make room for Prentice, the Broncos waived veteran wideout Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
The Broncos have become expert at playing the practice squad elevation game. The upside is that game-day elevations give the Broncos additional roster flexibility.
The downside is that, when a player maxes out his three-elevation limit, as Prentice did, the Broncos either have to promote him to the active roster or waive him. If he passes through waivers, he can then be re-signed to the practice squad where his three-elevation limit resets at zero.
What it Means For Humphrey
I’m sure the Broncos plan on keeping Humphrey around on the practice squad, although, a team could come knocking. Humphrey is an experienced big-bodied receiver who actually can block and play special teams.
Because he’s a vested veteran, Humphrey was released, not waived, which makes him free to sign with any team or to turn around and re-sign with the Broncos’ practice squad. He was a healthy scratch last week against the Los Angeles Rams, but it’s not as if Prentice played a lot.
Prentice’s Role So Far
The Broncos elevated Prentice for all three games thus far, and he played six, eight, and four snaps, respectively. However, the Broncos view him as being integral to the offense, and if they want to get this impotent run game off the ground, the fullback will be key.
It will require the Broncos to put Bo Nix under center far more than they have thus far, allowing Prentice to step in and lead block in the I or offset-I formation for the likes of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. A big reason why Prentice hasn’t been used that much, despite being elevated each week, is because of the flow of the game, where Denver has found itself trailing in the second half.
The Broncos have been forced to throw to get back into the past two games, which relegates the fullback to spectator status. But there were other opportunities to utilize him, just as they did in the preseason: on the goal-line late, Nix went up and over for a one-yard touchdown, stretching the ball out to break the plane, when the give could have just as easily gone to Prentice on a fullback dive.
Prentice hasn’t let the Broncos down when he’s been given the rock. Perhaps he’ll start getting some higher usage as the season goes along.
At the very least, let’s hope that Denver recommits to running the ball early in games, which would put Prentice on the field more as a lead blocker. He’s one of the NFL’s better fullbacks, and he’s proven that he can do more than block.
Bottom Line
Time will tell exactly what the Broncos have in store for Prentice, but the past week has seen the team’s initial practice-squad machinations resolve with him and long snapper Mitchell Fraboni being promoted to the 53-man roster. Now, at least, it opens up the game-day elevation options to other potentially impact players, like returner Kolbe Katsis.
Heck, maybe we’ll even see rookie linebacker Red Murdock at some point this season. You never know.
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