Forgive Omar Bolden if worry seeped into his otherwise ever-positive attitude.
“I guess I would be lying if I said it didn’t,” Bolden said.
The final roster cuts were a week away and the Broncos wanted him to do what? Switch positions? The Broncos drafted Bolden just last year in the fourth round as a cornerback. Now they wanted him to play safety.
“I tried not to focus on what it meant,” Bolden said. “I tried to control what I could control, which is do the best I can on the field. It crossed my mind but at the end of the day I’m a ballplayer.”
Bolden switched spots with veteran Quentin Jammer, who went from safety back to his natural left cornerback position. As it turned out, they both made it. The Broncos kept a whopping 11 defensive backs.
When did Bolden realize he made the team?
“When you don’t hear the phone ring, it’s good,” he said. “No news is good news.”
Broncos roster by position
OFFENSE
Quarterbacks (3):Peyton Manning, Brock Osweiler, Zac Dysert.
Manning has 244 more career starts than his two backups combined.
Running backs (5): Montee Ball, Ronnie Hillman, Knowshon Moreno, Jacob Hester, C.J. Anderson.
Youth won out in Anderson making it instead of Lance Ball.
Receivers (4): Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Eric Decker, Andre Caldwell.
The first three have a chance to statistically approach the top trio tandems in NFL history.
Tight ends (4): Julius Thomas, Virgil Green, Joel Dreessen, Jacob Tamme.
Same group as last year. Only Thomas and Green get most of the early playing time.
Offensive linemen (9): Ryan Clady, Zane Beadles, Manny Ramirez, Louis Vasquez, Orlando Franklin, Chris Clark, John Moffitt, Chris Kuper, Steve Vallos.
Clark is the only backup tackle. Beadles would be fourth tackle.
Specialists (4): Matt Prater, Britton Colquitt, Aaron Brewer, Trindon Holliday.
Holliday could also be listed as fifth receiver.
DEFENSE
Defensive backs (11): Champ Bailey, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Chris Harris, Tony Carter, Kayvon Webster, Quentin Jammer, Rahim Moore, Duke Ihenacho, Mike Adams, David Bruton, Omar Bolden.
Even with Bailey’s iffy status against Baltimore, secondary should be better with addition of Rodgers-Cromartie and emergence of Ihenacho.
Defensive linemen (8): Derek Wolfe, Robert Ayers, Shaun Phillips, Malik Jackson, Sylvester Williams, Kevin Vickerson, Terrance Knighton, Mitch Unrein.
Wolfe and Williams were the Broncos’ top picks of the past two drafts.
Linebackers (5): Wesley Woodyard, Danny Trevathan, Nate Irving, Paris Lenon, Steven Johnson.
Von Miller on reserve/suspended list. Lenon could be this year’s Keith Brooking.
