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Broncos preseason: Darius Kilgo progressing quickly at NT

By Sayre Bedinger

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The Denver Broncos figured they were getting a player with some developmental upside when they took Darius Kilgo out of Maryland in the 6th round of this past year’s draft. After two preseason games, it appears as though the late-round scouting of John Elway and the front office in Denver has struck again.

Kilgo has two sacks through the Broncos’ first two preseason games, and has been an absolute terror for opposing offensive lines to have to block.

It was expected that defensive line coach Bill Kollar would have an impact in his first year with the Denver Broncos, but I don’t know that anyone could have predicted it would pay dividends as quickly as it has. Kollar has to have been a huge impact on the development not only on Darius Kilgo, but on every young defensive lineman on the roster.

Kollar’s ability to develop talent in the NFL along the defensive line is well known in league circles, and with a lot of changes up front this offseason, it was clear that his arrival in Denver couldn’t come a moment too soon.

For Kilgo, the breakthrough at the nose tackle position also couldn’t have come a moment too soon. The Broncos are breaking in Sylvester Williams as the team’s lead nose tackle this season with Terrance Knighton in Washington, and Kilgo is expected to take over for Marvin Austin Jr., who was placed on injured reserve.

As was pointed out by the team, Kilgo led the Broncos’ defense in snaps played against the Texans on Saturday night, and produced. He notched his 2nd sack of the preseason and continues to make plays behind the line of scrimmage consistently.

As I pointed out after the game, Kilgo was as dominant as I’ve seen him since he put it to the Iowa Hawkeyes offensive line early in the 2014 college football season.

Kilgo could go from possible practice squad addition to playing a huge role in 2015. If he keeps making plays like this, it’ll be hard to justify keeping him off the field…

Next: Shaquil Barrett emerging for Broncos

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