(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

UPDATE (5/8/12, 11:00 a.m.):  The Broncos updated the two links (seen below) shortly after this article was posted.  Wolfe is now listed as a defensive tackle by the team.

The Denver Broncos may not use Derek Wolfe — who was selected 36th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft — solely as a defensive tackle this season.  A rotational role for Wolfe appears to be more likely.

On Monday, Stuart Zaas mentioned Wolfe as a defensive end on the team’s official website and Wolfe is listed as a defensive lineman on the team’s official roster.

The 6’5″, 295 pound Wolfe has potential to be a starter going into the season, after recording 21.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks last season at Cincinnati and being named the 2011 Co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year.  At a minimum, Wolfe will likely see time in passing situations in Denver’s defense starting in Week 1.

On passing downs, Denver’s defensive line could look something like this:

DE: Dumervil    DT:  Wolfe   DT:  Ayers   DE: Miller

(*Edited at 7:32 p.m. MT after readers pointed out that Ayers played DT on passing downs last season.)

The Broncos will have options with many versatile linemen — including Wolfe, who could see time as a defensive end/pass rusher.  Other possible rotational linemen on Denver’s roster include Justin Bannan, Ty Warren, Ben Garland, Jason Hunter, Malik Jackson, Mitch Unrein and Sealver Siliga.

Wolfe certainly has the motor and desire to become a solid defensive lineman in Denver.  The former Bearcat will practice with his new teammates for the first time on Friday, May 11th.

Ryan McBean in 2011 (Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos appear set to approach 2012 with an entirely new set of defensive tackles from a year ago.

2011 starter Brodrick Bunkley is gone. 2011 starter Marcus Thomas remains unsigned and is now jersey-less. And today, one of the Broncos’ bigger rotation DT’s signed elsewhere for 2012 — even if only for ten games.

Ryan McBean signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens Monday, according to reports. McBean is currently suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season. The Broncos withdrew McBean’s $1.72 million restricted free agent tender following his announced suspension in April, making him a free agent.

McBean is currently appealing the suspension, which was filed because the league claims he submitted non-human urine in a drug test sample.

Should McBean lose his appeal/lawsuit, he would be suspended from the end of the preseason to October 14.

Interesting depth move for the Ravens, but after stalking allegations surfaced in 2011, McBean was already on thin ice in Denver. Funny how team captain D.J. Williams isn’t held to the same standard.

Defensive tackle Marcus Thomas appears to have finished his stint with the Denver Broncos.  The team announced new jersey numbers on Monday (rookie numbers here), and Thomas’ No. 79 was assigned to defensive lineman Jeremy Beal.

Jacob Tamme — No. 84

Cornelius Ingram — No. 82

Tracy Porter — No. 21

Jeremy Beal — No. 79

Sealver Siliga — No. 98

Thomas was drafted by the Broncos in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft and has started in 34 games and recorded one sack and 146 tackles but was unable to agree to a contract extension with Denver during the offseason.  Beal was drafted in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL draft by the Broncos but did not record any statistics last season.

In other defensive tackle news, Ryan McBean, who is facing a six-game performance-enhancing drug suspension, has signed with the Baltimore Ravens.  The Broncos parted ways with McBean in April.

The Broncos seem to feel OK about their defensive tackle situation and have eight defensive backs listed on the roster.  A rotation of Derek Wolfe, Justin Bannan, Kevin Vickerson, Ty Warren, Ben Garland and Mitch Unrein seems to be the most likely scenario.

Good ol’ No. 6 is coming back to Denver’s quarterbacking corps.  Rookie quarterback Brock Osweiler, who was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, has chosen to wear jersey No. 6 this season.

The newest Broncos were assigned their numbers recently and the team announced it on Monday.  Below is a list of some of the notable rookies and their respective numbers.

Derek Wolfe — No. 95

Brock Osweiler — No. 6

Ronnie Hillman — No. 34

Danny Trevathan — No. 59

Omar Bolden — No. 47

Philip Blake — No. 64

Malik Jackson — No. 70

Gerell Robinson — No. 8

The complete list of new player numbers can be found at DenverBroncos.com.  The rookies mentioned above will practice together for the first time on Friday, May 11th.

If you still have a Jay Cutler jersey, you can probably run it down to an embroidery shop and have them place an “OSWEILER” patch over “CUTLER” for relatively cheap.  Also of note is that defensive back Bolden will wear former Broncos’ safety John Lynch‘s No. 47 and linebacker Trevathan has chosen No. 59, which was most recently worn by fellow linebacker Wesley Woodyard (who now wears No. 52).

Duke Ihenacho #2 of the San Jose State Spartans tackles Stanford's Zach Ertz in 2011. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Duke Ihenacho
Pos: Strong Safety
School: San Jose State
Class: Senior
Ht: 6’1″ Wt: 205 lbs.
40-time: 4.66 Bench: 20

Duke Ihenacho, pronounced “EE-ah-NAH-cho,” was a four-year starter at SJSU who earned all-conference honors since his sophomore season. Watch Ihenacho and you will see a wild downhill tackler. He reads run plays much quicker than passing routes and can be late on assignments over the middle. He is a strong tackler but tends to remind me of someone playing Madden and using the hit-stick wrecklessly. He is always putting his head down to attempt to blast through the runner that, on occasions he will end up looking silly. He has good strength, instincts, and NFL bloodlines and could be an impact player on special teams as a rookie. Duke possesses the tackling prowess and aggression John Fox desires in a SS and that the Broncos are now missing post Dawkins retirement. If Ihenacho were to become a reliable contributor in our defensive sets he would be well served to put in a lot of practice time covering routes and assignments.

Scouting Reports: SI, CBS, PFW, NFP, SJSU, Broncos Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos obviously only has great things to say about Andrew Luck.  [Indy Star]
• My friend Brian Shrout had some interesting insights into Ronnie Hilman, via Hilman’s old high school football coach. [Mile High Report]
• One writer thinks Seau’s death could be the beginning of the end of the NFL, which is a bit far-fetched if you ask me.  Take MMA, for example. [Examiner]
• Peter King also addresses Junior Seau in his Monday Morning Quarterback, suggesting the NFL will go crazy for player safety (not a bad thing). [SI.com]
• One draft analysis claims the Broncos didn’t draft any starters in this years draft. Who can argue with that? Ask again in 2015. [NFL.com]

Wide receiver Gerell Robinson #8 of the Arizona State Sun Devils scores on a 11 yard touchdown in 2011. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Gerell Robinson
Pos: Wide Receiver
School: Arizona State
Class: Senior
Ht: 6’3″ Wt: 227 lbs.
40-time: 4.62 Bench: –

Gerell Robinson, much like his quarterback partner and ASU/Denver Broncos counterpart Brock Osweiler, only came onto the scene in his senior year of college. A tall target not afraid to work the middle of the field, Robinson’s big-play abilities have been questioned for some time, though his 18-yard average in his senior season will quell some of those concerns. The main knocks against Robinson are his speed, lack of burst off the line of scrimmage, and tendencies to straight-line it. He played mostly out of the slot at ASU despite his size.

Scouting Reports: NFL, PFW, NFP, DC, ASU, Broncos

Camp Competition: Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Andre Caldwell, Matthew Willis, D’Andre Goodwin, Brandon Stokley, Mark Dell, Tyler Grisham, Jason Hill, Greg Orton, Eric Page Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Eric Page may be the only option for the Broncos at punt returner.

“Hello, Broncos training campers! Who here would like to return punts?”

Bueller? Bueller?

Wuebb-ler?

We don’t foresee the Broncos’ undrafted guard volunteering for punt return duty, so the fact remains: there isn’t a single player on the Broncos’ 90-man roster with legitimate experience returning punts at the NFL level.

Eric Decker has done it, but he’s a #2 wide receiver now, and he was too tall anyhow. Cassius Vaughn is a kick returner.

Of the rookies the Broncos brought in, only one, undrafted WR Eric Page, has any collegiate punt return experience.

And that wasn’t exactly Page’s forte, either, as Mike Klis noted on Twitter. Page averaged 102 catches in three seasons at Toledo, and had more success returning kicks (five touchdowns) than returning punts (one).

Still, the Broncos have seen an undrafted rookie make their roster in six consecutive seasons. We expect the Broncos will also try a healthy Omar Bolden in the role, but he has no experience there. If Page grabs this duty of punt returner by the horns, he’s a shoo-in for a roster spot in September.

Defensive back Coryell Judie of Texas A&M Aggies tips away the ball on the play at Reliant Stadium on December 31, 2011 in Houston, Texas. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Coryell Judie
Pos: Cornerback
School: Texas A&M
Class: Senior
Ht: 6’0″ Wt: 196 lbs.
40-time: 4.5 Bench: –

Coryell Judie is a flashy athlete, willing tackler, and special teams ace. He is valuable as a kick returner as well as defending kicks. Judie is a confident and tough player but is consistently hampered by injuries. He does an extraordinary job of high-pointing  the ball in the air to defend it. However, he gives up far too much distance at the break point and had the worst 3 cone drill of any cornerback at the combine. This could dictate a switch to safety where his athleticism and tackling abilities could shine. He does have good zone awareness. He’s just far from capable of being a cover corner in the NFL.

Scouting Reports: NFL, CBS, PFW, NFP, Texas A&M, Broncos

Camp Competition: Omar Bolden, Tony Carter, Ramzee Robinson.  Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• The Denver Broncos drafted a quarterback, so you knew an in depth story on Brock Osweiler was coming. [Denver Post]
• The woman who was not raped by Perrish Cox as filed a civil suit against him and Demaryius Thomas.  History shows she is more likely to receive damages than a conviction, but I’m not sure how Demaryius Thomas fits into all of this – other than he has more disposable income at the moment. [Channel 9 News]
• Former Broncos’ tight end, Nate Jackson talks about the lack of privacy for players fresh out of the draft. [North County Public Radio]
• Meanwhile, the NFL is still reeling from the death of NFL Legend, Junior Seau.  Out of this tragedy, I bet something positive will happen for the players and the NFL in general.  [Bay Area Newsgroup]