We should be excited about Josey Jewell for the 2019 season

The Denver Broncos passed on linebackers in the 2019 NFL Draft. Fans should be excited about what that means for Josey Jewell.

The pressure to perform has never seemed to faze Josey Jewell.

The second-year Denver Broncos linebacker did not have a ‘perfect’ rookie season, by any means, but he showed plenty of promise and gave everyone a lot to be excited for in year two.

The Broncos are going to be counting on their 2018 draft class to be the foundation of the roster going forward, and Jewell is right in the middle of things — literally — defensively.

As he did as a freshman at Iowa, Jewell became a starter midway through his rookie season in the NFL, playing in all 16 games and starting nine for the Broncos.

He finished his rookie year with 58 total tackles, four tackles for loss, and three pass breakups.

I believe we’ve merely scratched the surface of what Jewell is capable of at the NFL level. When the game slows down for this guy he’s capable of dominating games. There are things Jewell does on the field that can’t be measured simply by a statistic. Look at this play from the first game of his final season at Iowa.

At the start of that play, Jewell is the guy running out into the flat to cover the running back. He sprints all the way back across the field, takes the perfect angle, and manages to take eventual first-round pick Josh Allen down for a six-yard sack.

For four years at Iowa, Jewell proved he can read and diagnose plays with the best of them, but not only that, he was more than capable of stacking linemen and shedding blocks in the trenches, throwing guys aside and making stops in the running game.

Because of his athletic testing numbers, many feel like Jewell is not going to be a good fit in the NFL in coverage, and I disagree with that.

Jewell proved at Iowa to be a very effective coverage linebacker in zone concepts and showed he is more than capable with the Broncos of playing man coverage when asked to do so. Jewell didn’t win every rep in coverage, but sometimes guys need some time to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.

In the Vic Fangio defense and with a year of NFL experience under his belt, the safe bet is to assume Jewell is going to take a substantial leap as a sophomore. He has great instincts, is fundamentally rock solid, and his play speed is significantly better than his timed speed in the 40-yard dash.

We’ve talked this guy up for over a year now, and this is a hill I’m willing to die on.