The Broncos added Daiyen Henley to a defense that could use some extra assistance

The Broncos skipped the running back market at Tuesday’s deadline and traded for Chargers linebacker Daiyen Henley, and Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt thinks the front office read its defense correctly.

For weeks, the trade deadline conversation in Denver was about running backs. Jonathan Taylor and Tony Pollard were both reportedly available. But when the deadline passed at 2 p.m. Tuesday, the Broncos did make a trade, just not the one most people expected.

The Broncos sent a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for linebacker Daiyen Henley. The Sean Payton and George Paton front office had stayed quiet at past deadlines. This time it bought, and it bought defense.

On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, Mike Evans asked Fox Sports NFL and college football analyst Joel Klatt what he made of it.

“I know you were following all the conversation about, do they go out, trade for Jonathan Taylor. What do they target, who do they target. The fact that they come away with a linebacker, what’s your reaction to that?” Evans asked.

Klatt connected the move to a pattern Broncos fans have seen before.

“I thought it was interesting. I, and to Stink’s kind of last point, we’ve seen this defense play really well for the last few years, and then you know, late in the season, leak a little oil,” Klatt said.

That has happened. Last season, Denver’s pass rush was on pace for the NFL sack record at midseason, then slowed down in December. The takeaways dried up, and the defense that carried the team through the fall wasn’t as dominant down the stretch. Josh Dover summed it up during the summer: “Sean starts slow, Vance hits this wall.” With the Broncos at 7-2 and holding the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the front office apparently decided not to wait for that wall.

Klatt then pointed to the numbers.

“I would just point to the fact like, you know, statistically this defense gives up a lot of yards. The best thing that they do, is keep opponents out of the end zone for the most part,” Klatt said.

The gap is large. Denver ranks 10th in the league in points allowed at 20.7 per game, but 26th in yards allowed at 355 per game. Opponents have been able to move the ball between the 20s, and the Broncos have made up for it with red zone stops, sacks and late plays like the goal-line stand that beat Kansas City. That has worked so far, but it leaves little room for error.

“Their scoring defense, much better than their total defense, and then they make plays late in the game. And I think that the evaluation, you know from the Broncos brass was, ‘Hey guys, you know we are teetering close here. This is not a dominant group that we can just lean on, that’s gonna get us to where we wanna go. It’s a group that has made the plays necessary for us to be in a position where we can chase our ultimate goal,'” Klatt said.

That’s a frank way to describe a unit that has been praised all season, including on this show, where Mark Schlereth said the Broncos would be 0-6 without it. Klatt isn’t saying the defense is bad. He’s saying it has been winning in high-wire fashion, giving up yards and then making big stops, and the Broncos may not want to bet on that holding up through January.

“And so, I think adding depth on that side of the ball was something that they thought necessary,” Klatt said.

A linebacker makes sense in that light. Much of the yardage problem has come in the run game and in the middle of the field. Kenneth Walker ran for 173 yards in the opener, and opposing tight ends and running backs have found room underneath. Henley gives Vance Joseph another body to help tackle in space, cover backs and tight ends and keep the unit fresher as the season gets longer. The cost was two Day 3 picks.

Denver still didn’t add a running back. Jonah Coleman will keep leading the backfield, with J.K. Dobbins behind him and RJ Harvey on injured reserve. The Broncos chose to protect the part of the team that has carried them. Klatt thinks that was the right priority, and Denver will find out in December whether it was enough.

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