Undrafted free agents: C.J. Anderson, RB; Kenny Anunike (on IR), DE; Shaquil Barrett, LB; Sam Brenner, C/G (Miami); Aaron Brewer, LS; Britton Colquitt, P; Todd Davis, LB (New Orleans); James Ferentz, C; Bennie Fowler, WR; Chris Harris Jr.; Lerentee McCray, LB; Brandon McManus, K (Indianapolis); Jordan Norwood, WR (Cleveland); Tyler Polumbus, T; Juwan Thompson, RB.
Starts in ‘15: Harris (12), Anderson (6), Barrett (5), Norwood (4).
Highlights: Few teams, especially one that has won 13, 13 and 12 games in the previous three seasons to go with their 10-2 mark this year, could have mined the annual collection of undrafted rookies available to them and then developed some of those signees each year any better than the Denver Broncos have.
Harris, who is one of the league’s elite at his position, and Anderson have been to the Pro Bowl. Barrett is third on the team with 4.5 sacks and has started five games in place of the injured DeMarcus Ware as the Broncos are comfortable using him in any down-and-distance situation.
Brewer has been one of the league’s most consistent long snappers since he beat out Lonie Paxton in 2012. Thompson, Fowler and McCray are each rotational players for the Broncos at their respective positions.
Fowler is fifth on the team with 13 receptions and is a core special-teams player, as is Thompson. McCray has played 99 snaps on the league’s No. 1 defense this season -- or 13.1 percent of the team’s total.
Until it was snapped this past training camp, when none of the team’s undrafted rookies made the opening-day roster, the Broncos had a streak of 11 consecutive years when at least one undrafted rookie made the 53-man roster to open the season.
The Broncos do have four of their undrafted rookies from the 2015 draft on their practice squad.
