Denver Broncos Week 14 Stock Report

The Denver Broncos won an ugly game against the San Diego Chargers in Week 13. The score was 17-3, but the Broncos offense only put 10 of those points on the board.

The Broncos defense accounted for seven of those points due to an interception returned for a touchdown, and they could have had another pick-six had cornerback Chris Harris been called for a penalty on a pass he returned to the end zone.

Denver was never in danger of losing the game, but they failed to really put the Chargers away. The passing game was lackluster and the rushing attack was sufficient. It was an underwhelming contest, but in this league, the “W” is all that counts.

With the victory and the New England Patriots losing against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Broncos are now the second seed in the AFC playoff race. They control their own destiny and will earn a first-round bye in the playoffs if they win their final four games of the season. This week, the Broncos are at home against division rival the Oakland Raiders.

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak knows the Raiders cannot be overlooked.

He said: “They’ve played well all year long. [Raiders head coach] Jack [Del Rio] is doing a great job. They gave us everything that we could handle the first time around. Obviously, we struggled and found a way to get out of there with a win, but they’re another division opponent.”

Kubiak continued: “Like I said, the challenges that we have as a team—we have to get to Sunday ready to go and do everything that we can to get another win.”

As with every week, there are players who are on the rise. There are also players who are now struggling for various reasons.

Here is the stock report for the Broncos as they head into Week 14.

Stock Up: WR Demaryius Thomas

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It was evident early against the Chargers that the Broncos wanted to get wide receiver Demaryius Thomas involved right away.

In the previous game against the Patriots, Thomas was targeted 12 times but only hauled in one reception. The Broncos didn’t wait to get Thomas jump-started against the Chargers, and he caught a touchdown pass from Brock Osweiler on their opening drive of the game.

As a total, Thomas caught six passes for 61 yards and a touchdown in Week 13. He was targeted six times and caught everything thrown his way. It was a refreshing improvement from the lack of production we saw in Week 12.

Thomas did come away from the Chargers game with a bruised hand. Kubiak had no real update on the injury and said: “You know what, I don’t know what he bruised. He bruised a couple things. I don’t know what they were, but he’s fine. He’s alright.”

As Osweiler plays more, opponents are going to have more film to study in preparation for the young quarterback. Thomas has noticed that he’s seeing different coverage than he was earlier this year.

He said: “I just know the past two, three weeks, they've been playing the receivers kind of the same way. They match up their best with [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders] and then put one on me. They're doing a little different technique now—press-bail.”

Thomas added: “Usually it's just press. Now they're bailing and pinning their eyes on the quarterback, so it's a little different now.”

Thomas is arguably the most important receiver on the team. Getting him involved early can get him into the rhythm of the game. That’s important for helping to insure that he’s not cold as the game goes on.

Stock Down: WR Emmanuel Sanders

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

The Kubiak offense isn’t known to fill the air with footballs, and history shows the second wide receiver often doesn’t make a huge impact. With Thomas having a good game, it meant fewer opportunities for Emmanuel Sanders.

Osweiler ended up tossing Sanders the ball a team-high eight times against the Chargers. Sanders was only able to come up with three passes for 19 yards on the day.

Osweiler’s interception came on a pass he was trying to get to Sanders streaking into the end zone. Instead of a Broncos touchdown, Sanders didn’t have a chance to grab the ball as Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett plucked it out of the air.

He may not be used as consistently as he was last year, but Kubiak knows there are other ways that Sanders can contribute. We may see more from him as the punt returner with cornerback Omar Bolden banged up with a hamstring injury.

Kubiak said: “Yes, and actually Shiloh [Keo] can return and go back there, too, so he’s another option for us to go back there. There’s [WR] Jordan [Norwood]. Of course, Jordan hasn’t suited here for a couple of weeks, but that’s always an option for us.”

Thomas may be the “main man” in the passing game, but defenses would be wise not to dismiss Sanders for the threat he is. He’s still capable of having huge games because of his speed, agility and run-after-the-catch ability.

While Thomas produced more last week, Sanders could outproduce him this week against the Raiders.

Stock Up: LB Von Miller

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

There’s no doubt about it; linebacker Von Miller was the most dominant force on the field against the Chargers.

Miller was everywhere. He seemed to be all over Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers—so much so that Rivers lost his composure at the end of the game and ended up clutching Miller’s jersey in frustration. Undeterred by this action, the Broncos man simply grabbed Rivers' jersey in exchange and held the quarterback at bay.

Kubiak loved what Miller did to put Rivers under duress.

“Yeah, I thought we had good pressure all day long. We were consistent. We didn’t really blitz a whole lot.” Kubiak said. “We played coverage and I let those guys do their job, and I thought we did a good job of pushing the pocket and making big plays.”

The Broncos only blitzed Rivers on 17.9 percent of his dropbacks. The league average for this rate in Week 13 was 29.0 percent. However, they were able to pressure him on nearly 50 percent (48.7) of his dropbacks, well above the league average that week of 29.9 percent.

Miller is one of the key defenders on this team, and he’s one of the league’s premier pass-rushers. He’s having a solid season, and that should continue as the Broncos march on through the final month of the regular season.

Stock Down: RB Ronnie Hillman

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Starting running back Ronnie Hillman did not have a great day against the Chargers.

He got a heavy workload with 19 carries on Sunday, but Hillman only compiled 56 yards rushing on the day. His 2.9 yards-per-carry average was the second lowest of the 2015 season.

The Broncos have some issues at the running back position. Hillman has a foot injury that kept him out of practice on Wednesday. The 24-year-old believes that he’s going to be ready by Sunday’s game, but that’s no guarantee.

“Yeah, I mean if you don't practice, you don't play, right? I'll definitely try to get out there and see how it feels before I even try to get on the field,” Hillman said.

Kubiak didn’t provide much of an update about Hillman on Wednesday.

“His foot has been really sore," the coach said. "He should be involved tomorrow, I think, if everything goes well. He should be in tomorrow.”

In addition to Hillman being banged up and missing practice on Wednesday, his backup C.J. Anderson is also missing time due to an ankle injury suffered in the game against the Chargers.

The Broncos should take it easy on Hillman during the week of practice. He should be limited on Thursday and perhaps even on Friday as they want him healthy for the game.

With both Hillman and Anderson banged up, we may see more from Juwan Thompson in Week 14.

Stock Up: DE Malik Jackson

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Broncos defensive line played without nose tackle Sylvester Williams on Sunday. Filling in at the position was Vance Walker, and he was greatly helped by the defensive ends around him, Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe.

In the Chargers game, Jackson had two passes defensed and three quarterback hits. He always seemed to be swarming around Rivers, and when he wouldn’t get to the passer, he’d put his hands up to disrupt passing lanes.

Jackson takes a business-like approach with so many defenders missing time due to injury.

“It’s our job," he said. "You have guys coming in here every day working hard and waiting for their chance. You have guys like [OLB Shaquil] Shaq Barrett, [ILB] Corey Nelson and [OLB] Shane Ray just sitting here waiting to get their chance and they go out there and do it.

"I think that it speaks to the guys upstairs getting guys in here that want to play, that know how play, that are football smart and have a good tenacity to go out there and get the ball.”

Jackson emphasized: “We just all have one mindset. When people go down, it doesn’t matter. The ship doesn’t stop and we understand that. That’s why we practice hard every day.”

The Broncos defense is arguably the best in the league. Even with key defenders missing due to injury, guys like Jackson are helping to carry the load for that side of the ball.

When the Broncos get healthier on defense, Jackson could be even more dangerous as a pass-rusher and premier intimidator for the Broncos.

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.