The Broncos made several moves on the offensive side of the ball this offseason and will have a new look at several positions. Kyle Orton is back at quarterback, but the team added short-term competition (Brady Quinn) and his long-term replacement (Tim Tebow). The Runningback position will mostly look the same, but JJ Arrington was brought in for depth and Spencer Larsen was removed from the defensive side of the ball to play fullback fulltime. Gone is Brandon Marshall at wide receiver, but Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker were drafted to help replace the now Miami Dolphin. Tony Scheffler was shipped out of town, which opens up the door for Marquez Branson to take on a pass-catching role along side Daniel Graham.

Entering his second season, Knowshon Moreno (pictured) will be relied on heavily for offense, especially after the team traded Brandon Marshall

QB: Kyle Orton : 312-of-520, 3431 yards, 19 TD, 13 INT, 22 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD – Orton is a risky fantasy pick this year when you consider that the team acquired Quinn. Any sort of struggle from Orton could lead Josh McDaniels to make a switch. Assuming he is the starter for all 16 games, Orton is still a borderline top 20 QB at best. The offense should be based around Moreno and gone are one of the game’s best receivers in Marshall and the underused pass-catching tight end Scheffler.

RB: Knowshon Moreno : 251 carries, 1004 yards, 8 TD, 50 targets, 32 receptions, 258 yards, 1 TD – Moreno could be in for a breakout campaign in 2010. The Broncos should rely on him heavily and his only real competition for carries is the oft-injured Correll Buckhalter. He doesn’t catch many balls, which hurts him in PPR formats and it remains to be seen if Tebow will see some goal line work in 2010, which would hurt Moreno’s TD numbers.

RB: Correll Buckhalter : 132 carries, 660 yards, 3 TD, 39 targets, 30 receptions, 237 yards, 1 TD – The underrated, but always injured Buckhalter saw plenty of work for a RB2 last season and he will be worked in again this season after averaging 5.4 yards-per carry on 120 tries and catching 82% of the 38 passes sent his way.

WR: Eddie Royal : 105 targets, 63 receptions, 632 yards, 3 TD – As predicted by FantasyDC.com, Royal was a giant disappointment in 2009. Although he will be much better in 2010, he is not a top 50 option. The Broncos brought in Thomas and Decker for a reason and they will be worked into the offense as soon as they’re ready. Royal is built to be a slot receiver anyways and should end up taking on that role as soon as the rookies are playing on every down.

WR: Jabar Gaffney : 100 targets, 56 receptions, 702 yards, 3 TD – Gaffney is on everyone’s sleeper list, but let someone else reach on him. Even though he will start the season as a starter, he is unlikely to end the season as one barring injury. Furthermore, the pass offense in Denver isn’t going to be spectacular. Gaffney will end up just inside the top 50 among receivers.

WR: Demaryius Thomas: 66 targets, 34 receptions, 472 yards, 3 TD
WR: Eric Decker: 44 targets, 27 receptions, 319 yards, 2 TD – The 2 rookies could make an immediate impact, but both will be coming off injuries. Thomas, a first round pick, is the more likely of the two to start in week 1 and is the team’s best down field threat. Assuming Thomas eventually starts and Royal works from the slot, Decker will be forced to battle for the WR2 job with Gaffney.

WR: Brandon Stokley: 39 targets, 21 receptions, 253 yards, 2 TD – Stokley will look to beat out Decker for a few targets a game, but is unlikely to make a significant impact.

TE: Marquez Branson: 50 targets, 29 receptions, 354 yards, 2 TD
TE: Daniel Graham: 44 targets, 27 receptions, 279 yards, 2 TD – With Tony Scheffler gone to Detroit, Branson is expected to step into his shoes. Assuming Branson can pick up where Scheffler left off, Graham will stay in his role as the blocking tight end. Despite that block-first role, Graham will catch a decent amount of passes and both of these guys should end up near 25-30 receptions. They will not, however, be worth much in fantasy.

The Denver Broncos continued the complete overhaul of their backfield today when they released RB Ryan Torain.

Rookie RB Knowshon Moreno is expected to see much of the workload this season, while Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan, and Peyton Hillis are expected to see time as well. Darius Walker adds depth.

Complete Denver Broncos Fantasy Depth Chart

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos
Kyle Orton has been named the starter so he is the one getting injured in this scenario. The fans of Denver are hoping Coach McDaniels can work his magic again.

Chris Simms- Simms has had some limited success and if you believe that McDaniels is responsible for Matt Cassel’s success last year you could expect some decent fantasy numbers from Simms. I expect Simms to be a waiver wire hit if Orton suffers an injury.

Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter- There will not be a major change in production for the running backs. However, expect a few less receiving yards for the backs with Simms at the helm. Orton tends to rely heavy on the running backs as receiving options.

Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Jabar Gaffney- With Simms at quarterback expect the receivers to have more deep plays. Orton struggles with the deep ball and last year in Chicago rarely threw to his wide outs (this could have been caused by the poor wide receiver options in Chicago).

Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham- Expect slightly lower numbers with Simms behind center. This is only because Orton heavily favors the use of his tight ends.

Matt Prater- I don’t see any changes in the kicking game production.

Denver Defense- We will see the same production from the defense. Or should I say lack of fantasy production.

Oakland Raiders
Al Davis’s need for speed strikes again. Newly drafted receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey bets JaMarcus Russell he can’t out throw him. Russell wins the bet but tears his rotator cuff and is out for the season.

Jeff Garcia- Garcia just seems to keep on kicking. This Oakland team has some weapons but Garcia won’t put up huge fantasy numbers. He maybe helpful when your starter is on a bye week.

Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush- Garcia is just a more seasoned and productive quarterback. He knows how to lead a team and this will result in better numbers for the running backs. Defenses will have to respect the passing game.

Javon Walker, Darrius Heyward- Bey, Johnnie Lee Higgins- Not the most experienced or productive group but Garcia will make the most of his situation. Garcia’s lack of arm strength will hurt the speed of Heyward-Bey.

Zach Miller- With Garcia behind center Miller will put up top 3 fantasy tight end numbers.

Sebastian Janikowski- The kicking game will be more effective with an injury to Russell.

Oakland Defense- Garcia will sustain drives and keep this unit off the field resulting in fewer points scored by the opposition.
San Diego Chargers
Darren Sproles tries to run under Phillip Rivers’s legs causing the need for surgery to a very sensitive area. Billy Volek will now be leading the super chargers.

Billy Volek- Volek has been a career back up with one season with 10 or more starts. In that season he passed for 2,486 yards and 18 touchdowns. At the most Volek would be a bye week starter.

LaDanian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles- With Volek behind center Tomlinson will see more 8 man fronts which means less production. Sproles will see a spike in his playing time because San Diego will need his playmaking ability to open up the defenses.

Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd- Volek’s limited ability will limit the production of this group. I would expect at least an average of seven less points a game scored by the offense. The fewer points scored means less fantasy points for your players.

Antonio Gates- Gates will still have a good year but the offense will have fewer trips to the red zone, where Gates is at his best.

Nate Kaeding- I don’t expect a major change in the kicking games production.

San Diego Defense- There will not be any major changes to the production of the San Diego defense.

Kansas City Chiefs
In a surprise move Matt Cassel accepts a job as the quarterback coach for the USC Trojans. He will be making more money a year than this NFL contract. Is anyone questioning how USC pays for all this? Maybe the same way it gets all those top recruits……wink wink.

Tyler Thigpen- Thigpen put up decent numbers last year as the starter. He is worthy of being the second quarterback on your fantasy roster.

Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles- Nobody is completely sure what Matt Cassel can really do and the same can be said for Thigpen. I expect the numbers to remain the same with either Cassel or Thigpen starting.

Dwayne Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Engram, Brad Cottam- Again the numbers for the wide receivers will not vary much.

Connor Barth- No major change in fantasy production

Kansas City Defense- The defense will have the same fantasy production.

The Denver Broncos have signed wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

For now he adds depth to a lengthy list of receivers, but he could see a larger role if Brandon Marshall is traded.

Full Denver Broncos FantasyDepth Chart

Last Update: 9/5/2009

Quarterbacks:

Kyle Orton
Chris Simms
Tom Brandstater*

Runningbacks:

Knowshon Moreno*
Correll Buckhalter
LaMont Jordan
Peyton Hillis (FB)

Wide Receivers:

Brandon Marshall
Eddie Royal
Brandon Stokley
Jabar Gaffney
Brandon Lloyd
Kenny McKinley*
Chad Jackson

Tight Ends:

Tony Scheffler
Daniel Graham
Richard Quinn*

Kickers:

Matt Prater

*Rookie