Evaluating the Denver Broncos: Defensive Line
By Tylor Walden
In the next installment of the Denver Broncos evaluation series, we shift to the defensive side of the ball and take a look at the defensive line for the Super Bowl Champs.
There is no doubt that the defense of the Denver Broncos were responsible for winning quite a bit of games during the 2015 season. Last season was a great example of the saying we should all be familiar with.
“Defense Wins Championships”
After the embarrassing loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 48, John Elway saw that a high powered offense could win some big games, but could be shut down if the right defense comes along. Therefore, the Broncos GM spent the last two seasons beefing up the defense.
Bringing in Demarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, and T.J. Ward were perhaps the biggest pieces to the puzzle for this new installment of the Orange Crush defense.
Once they all started to gel together, this unit was something to see in 2015. From the interceptions, sacks, forced fumbles. This team was going to be something special and it ended with the Lombardi Trophy.
As we are just nine days away from the start of training camp, we move on to the unit that helped in large parts to get the third championship for the Denver Broncos. Yes, we finally got to the defense.
First off is the defensive line. While this unit has not been talked about a lot in 2015, there were three contributing players who made an impact on this line.
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Before the playoffs began, Derek Wolfe was rewarded with a new contract that will keep him in Denver for the next four years. His play off the line was spectacular.
His partner in crime Malik Jackson had a really great season. Stopping the run was his specialty and he had a key fumble recovery in Super Bowl 50 that was the first touchdown of the big game.
The guy in the middle Sylvester Williams had a breakout year as well. 2016 is going to be an even bigger year for him since he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Other contributors to the defensive line were Vance Walker and Antonio Smith. There were times that they had some key plays that helped win a game.
Perhaps one of the biggest losses for the Broncos on the defensive side was losing Malik Jackson to free agency. Who replaces Jackson in 2016? Well, it is time to evaluate the players on the defensive line in 2016.
Like I did for the offensive line, these players will be grouped by position. So, let us take a look at the defensive line for the Denver Broncos.
Next: Defensive Ends