The Denver Broncos (1-2) will travel to face the Arizona Cardinals (3-0) in their preseason finale. Most of their significant starters will be on the bench in this game as the team looks at the back end of their roster in preparation for cutting the team from 90 players to 53 by Saturday. Chad Kelly will be starting and playing the first half, while Paxton Lynch will take the reigns for the second half. Kelly will continue to try and instill confidence in the coaching staff that he can back the season-long backup. Lynch, on the other hand, is just hoping to regain some confidence and stick around a while long. The game itself will be about as meaningless as it gets, since most of these players likely won’t be on an NFL roster in two days. Still, it’s a chance to see how Kelly continues to progress and is worth watching for that aspect alone.<doc-sep>Stock Up: Mike Glennon The starter for tonight’s game finished with 69 yards and a touchdown and looked like the solid backup quarterback that Arizona signed him to be in the fourth game. He took a few sacks but was in control of the offense and threw a dime of a pass for 26 yards to Trent Sherfield to get them into the redzone in the first half. If he’s not on the roster after cuts, it’ll be stunning given his NFL experience and the need for a veteran given Sam Bradford’s health concerns. Stock Down: Charles “Chad” Kanoff To be fair, I was tempted to put Kanoff’s stock up because his strengths in reading the field, delivering strong accurate downfield strikes and his poise in the pocket all showed up tonight. And I lost count of how many drops he had last night. But...he still took a bad sack for a fumble and on third down seemed to not be on the same page as his receivers and if he was going to make the final 53 he’d have had to not only be flawless but also see Mike Glennon wholly implode. He still seems to have a future in the league, though, and I’d expect that Arizona will like him enough to try to sign him to the practice squad. Stock Up: Zeke Turner Turner had his coming out party tonight. He finished with 11 solo tackles, 1 sack, one tackle for loss and looked like a monster at linebacker. That’s right. Linebacker. Steve Keim confirmed in interview that Turner is making the same type of transition from safety to in the box linebacker and he seems to be a natural there and provides depth to a linebacker corp that sorely needs it given that they have very little depth behind their starters. He’s been a long-time thought to make the 53 for his special teams. Tonight he proved it with his defensive play. Stock Down: Cap Capi If Turner exploded, Cap Capi was lacking in impact tonight. The fan favorite ended up with a few pressures and an almost sack that was nullified by a head-to-head penalty from another player but he still got pushed around in the run game and wasn’t the all-consuming force he’s seemed to have been at times. He’s got skills and maybe AZ puts him on the practice squad but the world-beater we’ve seen in the past preseasons wasn’t there tonight. Stock Up: Jacquizz Smith Smith received praise from GM Steve Keim as well as got an interception of Broncos QB Chad Kelly on a heads-up play...as a defensive end, no less! He might be a guy who seems to make the roster until we figure out what’s going on with Markus Golden but he’s looked good throughout camp as well. Stock Down: Dennis Gardeck Gardeck is an athletic freak who had a hustle play from one side of the field to another and has been a great story throughout camp. But a few missed tackles and some lacking areas and I don’t think he’s ready for the limelight just yet. If he had gotten that interception maybe I’d feel a bit differently but for now he seems set to head to the practice squad. Stock Up: Brandon Williams You might be like “Huh?” Well Williams returned kicks late tonight and was solid in the tackling game which means he’s probably got a spot on the roster ahead of Campbell for the special teams play. He’s not going to be in AZ’s long-term plans at Corner and he was not the most impressive guy on the field but he fills a need and a hole on the roster behind Logan in case T.J. gets hurt without having to put a starter back there or a guy who hasn’t got some experience with that. How long he’ll hold onto that roster spot, though, remains to be seen. Stock Down: Chris Campbell Campbell was basically invisible on the night outside of getting beaten for a pass and overall hasn’t made the impact that most expected him to have. He struggled a bit in tackling and probably isn’t going to make the roster now that Brandon Williams as a kick returner has happened. But, for a team in need for CB’s he might definitely get picked up by another team or end up on a practice squad. Stock Up: Trent Sherfield Sherfield was solid on special teams when he played and separated to catch a dime of a pass from Mike Glennon and even got some yards after the catch. His spot on the roster is probably the safest of Brice Butler, Greg Little and J.J. Nelson, and he proved that tonight. Stock Down: J.J. Nelson Greg Little caught a touchdown. Brice Butler got back and played and blocked well on Greg Little’s touchdown. Nelson started in the game and didn’t really do anything. I wouldn’t have noticed him if not for the fact that he was listed as a starter. It really does feel like this might be the last that we see of J.J. in a Cards uniform. We’ll see if that’s true or not soon enough. Honorable Mention: A.J. Howard & Elijhaa Penny Penny’s making this roster. Howard made a big push to get on it tonight even if he got burned on a touchdown to a tight end with a physical impression, including knocking a ball free that was ruled an incomplete catch instead of a turnover. Both are gritty, physical players with versatility, especially Penny who was making it happen as a running back in addition to being a fullback tonight. They both are also solid special teams players as well so don’t be surprised if one or both make the team and the other heads back to the practice squad as both are eligible. Dishonorable Mention: The defense as a whole Only one turnover forced and while normally you’d call that a good thing, expectations have been a bit, uh, higher for the Cardinals over this preseason given that they have been averaging almost 1.5 turnovers a quarter before this past game. Steve Wilks called the effort “sloppy” and the defense certainly looked like that at times. Chad Kelly had ups and downs but still managed to connect, Paxton Lynch looked good enough to where he basically passed at will against Arizona’s 2nd string players and the Denver running backs ran over Arizona at times, especially in the second half. To sum up: It’s thankfully, just preseason though and after going 3-1 and not the “dreaded” 4-0, the guys who were expected to make the roster for the most part all stepped up tonight, while many who were on the bubble fell off, meaning that while there will always be tough decisions to make, at least some of them will be a little easier for Steve Keim after all. You can follow @blakemurphy7 on Twitter.<doc-sep>
GLENDALE, AZ - AUGUST 30: Quarterback Chad Kelly #6 of the Denver Broncos drops back to pass during the preseason NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium on August 30, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) The Denver Broncos trail the Arizona Cardinals 7-3 going into the half. I take a look at some of the first half stats and react to the first 30 minutes. The final preseason game is where all of the 22 original starters take the night off. Players like Von Miller and Case Keenum will not see the field for the Denver Broncos. The first half was to see how Chad Kelly would do with a half of football. While Kelly had some solid stats in the first half, the offense looked really flat. The second string offense was only able to score three points in the first half. That is no knock on Chad Kelly. With a lot of players battling for roster spots, each player in the first half is out there making plays that will hopefully earn them a spot on the final 53-man roster. For some players on the Denver Broncos, they are looking to make their case known. De’Angelo Henderson, who has been a player rumored to be a possible trading piece, has recorded 28 yards rushing on seven carries and has one 13-yard reception. Tim Patrick, who is slotted as the fifth wide out for the Denver Broncos, has recorded only two receptions for 18 yards. Isaiah McKenzie, who could be one of the odd men out, has not recorded a single catch in the game. Su’a Cravens, who is making his Broncos debut, has recorded three tackles in the game. It is safe to say that if he continues his performance Denver will be exhaling and will likely place him on the final 53. With an entire second half to go, look for some other players to make their cases known to have their name placed on the final roster. Chad Kelly’s night is likely done once the Broncos offense takes the field. Paxton Lynch will take over as the quarterback for the second half. The Arizona Cardinals will get the football to start the half. Let’s see if any defense players for Denver can make a name for themselves.