Malcolm Roach
Denver BroncosModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 12 games
Draft & College
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
Tier 8 (#89) in 2023 to tier 2 (#16) breakout in 2024 to tier 4 (#32) in 2025 puts Roach in the rare late-bloomer journeyman class with structural top-20 ceiling. The Texas UDFA origin plus the change of scenery to Denver's Vance Joseph scheme appears to be the catalyst. The 2026 question is whether Roach returns to tier 3 territory or whether the structural tier 4 finish becomes the stable late-prime baseline.
Roach came out of Texas as a 2020 undrafted free agent signed by the New Orleans Saints and spent four years in New Orleans before signing with the Denver Broncos in 2024 free agency. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#89) in 2023 with the Saints, tier 2 (#16) breakout in 2024 with Denver, and tier 4 (#32) in 2025.
Strengths
- Tier 2 (#16) breakout in 2024 as a 2020 UDFA confirms a top-20 IDL ceiling exists in the Vance Joseph defensive scheme.
- Six years of NFL survival as a Texas UDFA plus the change of scenery to Denver gives him real journeyman veteran value.
Concerns
- 16-spot regression from tier 2 (#16) in 2024 to tier 4 (#32) in 2025 flags the 2024 finish as either context-driven or a one-year peak.
- Denver's broader defensive identity around Vance Joseph's continued tenure puts continued Roach ceiling partly scheme-dependent.
What to watch: Whether Roach returns to tier 3 (top 25) in 2026, the threshold for confirming the 2024 breakout was structural rather than situational.