Denver Broncos Week 5 Stock Report

With a quarter of the regular season done, the Denver Broncos sit undefeated with a 4-0 record. They have a bye week coming up in two weeks, but first they must get through two games on the road before they get a break.

Up next, the Broncos must travel to the “Black Hole” to take on longtime division rival, the Oakland Raiders.

Head coach Gary Kubiak knows how important these road division games are.

“It's tough on the road in this league anytime," the coach said. "We've got two back-to-back road games coming up here. We knew early in the season we're playing a lot of road football games. We just need to go back out there and play consistently.”

Kubiak explained: “We know Oakland is a tough place to play. They've been playing extremely well. We've got to have a good week of preparation. Playing good road football usually means protecting the football and playing physical. If you do those two things, you'll probably get a good chance.”

The Broncos schedule gets a lot tougher after they come back from their bye. The team would like to roll into its break with an undefeated record.

Here is the stock report for the Broncos as they head into Week 5.

Stock Up: RB Ronnie Hillman

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The Broncos have been struggling to run the ball this year, but that seemed to change in Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings. Ronnie Hillman broke off a 72-yard touchdown run, the fourth-longest run in team history.

Hillman finished with his third 100-yard rushing game of his career. Against the Vikings, he toted the rock 11 times for 103 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. This was Hillman’s first 100-yard rushing game from the backup position. Going forward, he should continue to serve as the team’s “1B” back behind starter C.J. Anderson as the “1A” back.

Kubiak likes the decisiveness that Hillman plays with.

“I think that we improved. I just think that we've been pushing and saying that we think that there's more there,” Kubiak said. “If you just go out there just to do your job, you have to want to do more. You have to want a little bit more on your plate. That's something that we're always encouraging guys to do and I think that we did that yesterday.”

Hillman does little inside the tackles, but he’s bursting to and through the holes much faster than Anderson is. Hillman is averaging 24 snaps per game, and that’s about where he should stay. He is a fine change-of-pace back, but he’s not built to take on a starter’s workload.

Kubiak may have wanted a true bell-cow back entering this season, but Anderson and Hillman look to be firmly entrenched in a running back by committee.

Stock Down: WR Cody Latimer

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He started the Vikings game with a penalty and ended the game with a groin injury. Needless to say, Week 4 wasn’t good for second-year wide receiver Cody Latimer.

After the game, he was seen walking gingerly in the locker room. When asked about his groin, Latimer responded, “I’m just really sore.”

The plan earlier this offseason was to feature the young player as the third wide receiver behind Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. There was talk of moving Sanders into the slot in certain formations so Latimer could line up on the outside opposite of Thomas.

Entering training camp, Latimer was third on the depth chart, and there was a real excitement building around him.

Things went off track in the preseason.

Latimer failed to impress in preseason games. He ran a couple of wrong routes and drew the ire of quarterback Peyton Manning. While Jordan Norwood and Bennie Fowler made the most of their limited opportunities, Latimer did not shine with more playing time. Now, he has barely played in the regular season and was banged up against the Vikings.

Kubiak had no update on Latimer’s injury on Monday. “Really no update. [He is] just day-to-day,” Kubiak stated.

Latimer first needs to get healthy, and then he needs to start impressing with limited snaps on the field. If that happens, then perhaps we could see Latimer’s role grow with the team. If he consistently impresses on the field, then we might even see the role that was originally planned for Latimer as Denver heads into the final part of the regular season.

The natural talent is there with Latimer, but the production has not yet come.

Stock Up: LB Shane Ray

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The Denver defense is absolutely ferocious. The Broncos lead the league with 18 sacks, and they’ve forced a league-high 11 turnovers through four contests. Their pass-rushers are some of the best in the game, and they have a rotation of players who can keep the heat high on opposing quarterbacks.

Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware are household names, and their play helps set the tone for the defense. When either one needs a breather, the next wave up includes rookie first-round pick Shane Ray.

Against the Vikings, Ray was able to snare quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Throughout the entire season, the rookie has kept opposing quarterbacks under duress as a part-time player.

Ray talked about his first career sack after the game: “I think that it's what I've been saying since the preseason. It's just me taking steps. Every week, I want to be better than I was the week before and to just take advantage of every opportunity that I get. I was able take advantage on one today and get a sack.”

Ray emphasized: “It felt good and now I just feel like there are more to come. I need to take more steps.”

We should continue to see Ray as a part-time pass-rusher for the Broncos—and we should see plenty of sacks, quarterback hits and pressures from the rookie going forward.

Stock Down: CB Bradley Roby

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The Shirelles sang "Mama said there would be days like this," and that was fitting for the day that second-year cornerback Bradley Roby had against the Vikings. He is an up-and-coming player for the Broncos, but on Sunday he had trouble slowing down slot receiver Stefon Diggs.

The rookie from Maryland was a fifth-round pick for the Vikings earlier this year, and he’d been inactive for the first three games of the season. With Charles Johnson out with an injury, the door of opportunity was open for Diggs. He ran 28 routes, was targeted 10 times and finished the game with six catches for 87 yards—all against Roby.

After the game, Kubiak talked about the Vikings' success through the air.

"If you go back and look, they did some things protection-wise that helped them get the ball down the field," the coach said. "They had some tight ends banging on Von, banging on [OLB] DeMarcus [Ware] before they were going out. It allowed them to buy some time, and the quarterback, let's face it, he's very athletic.”

Kubiak concluded: "Some of the things he did on the field with the moving around and stuff buys them some time. I think it was a combination of what they were doing and the quarterback being very athletic."

Roby is going to have some growing pains as a pro. He’s a future playmaker and starter for this team, but this last game was a rough one for the 2014 first-round pick. Roby should use this as a learning experience to prevent himself from getting burned too much again in the future.

Stock Up: SS T.J. Ward

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One of the best defenders on the Broncos roster is strong safety T.J. Ward. He’s an intimidating player who can play close to the line of scrimmage to stuff the run or get after the quarterback.

He had not one but two sacks of Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday. It was the first multi-sack game of his career, and Ward sealed the victory with a sack and forced fumble of Bridgewater in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter. Ward is now the only safety over the last five years to have at least one sack each year.

Ward says the defense believes it will make big plays each week: “Oh absolutely. We were just talking about how we are find a way to win, well we’re not really finding ways to win, we’re making ways to win, we’re making plays to win games and that’s what you’ve got to do.”

Ward explained: “We talked as a defense on the sideline, DeMarcus [Ware] brought us all up and said, 'We have to make a play we have to win this game, and if that ball gets on the ground again we have to recover it this time' and that’s what happened.”

After missing the first game of the year with a suspension, Ward has been on a tear. The defense is feeding off his playmaking ability, and he should continue to be a star for what could be the league’s best defense.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos' media department unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats via ESPN's employees-only database.

Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.