Denver Broncos: The 5 Most Interesting Position Battles, Minus Tebow-Orton

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If you are interested in some other positions heading into the first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, please read on.

The continuing purge of Josh McDaniels players could continue as a result of what happens in real game-time situations, as well as a few wild cards jumping in and surprising everyone.

Wide Receivers

The battle for wide receiver spots on the Denver Broncos is officially on. According to the first depth chart, draft position will have nothing to do with who stays and who goes.

Demaryius Thomas will have to get healthy and play very well to try and find a spot come midseason. It will be interesting to see if a player like David Anderson will actually stick on this roster, even if it means possibly displacing young talent like Matthew Willis and Eric Decker.

Couple that with the fact that some of these players will be trying to shine with Tebow and Quinn supplying them the ball and this could be an interesting preseason.

Middle Linebacker

The Broncos have stuck to their word and are going to give Joe Mays a chance to be the middle linebacker. What is surprising is that veteran Mario Haggan is listed as his backup with Nate Irving right behind.

Mario Haggan continues to find ways to stick on the roster. His experience and versatility could make it very easy for the Broncos to go with him as the starter while rookie Nate Irving prepares. This is not to say that Joe Mays will lose this spot for sure, but there are factors working behind him that make it easy to supplant him.

With Nate Irving out for the preseason opener however, the battle will be between Mays and Haggan to become the starter next week.

Interior Defensive Line

There isn’t a lot that can knock Brodrick Bunkley out of the starting spot at nosetackle but watch out for his backup on the depth chart, Ty Warren, to make the move over and replace Kevin Vickerson.

If Warren proves that he is healthy enough, he will be hard to keep out of the lineup. Consequently, it will be hard to explain why Kevin Vickerson would be starting over him.

Left Defensive End

Robert Ayers, like most Josh McDaniels picks, should be looking over his shoulder constantly.

The Broncos have inundated the defensive end position with new blood and none of those guys are here to take Elvis Dumervil’s spot.

Jeremy Jarmon, Jason Hunter and even Derrick Harvey and Jeremy Beal all know that Ayers' spot at the top is very shaky.

A few impact plays from one of those players and the typical underperformance of Ayers could be a recipe for a new left defensive end.

Tight End

The fact that Daniel Fells is on top of the depth chart only means that John Fox plans to run, and run often.

The better question is, who will have to go in order to keep Virgil Green and Julius Thomas—who the Broncos seem to have a lot of hope for (with good reason).

The recurring theme here is that “McDaniels guys” Richard Quinn and Dan Gronkowski will have to be insanely impressive to stay with the Broncos.

Still, they are two and three on the depth chart as of now, so maybe they are still their spots to lose.