Who Steps Up During a Trevathan Absence?
News struck early today of Danny Trevathan laying on the turf, medical personnel attending to his left knee. Panic struck through Bronco Country immediately, how serious is the injury? How do would we replace Danny? The answer is simple, you don’t. You cannot replace a Danny Trevathan. The player best equipped to step up is Wesley Woodyard and he is now a Tennessee Titan.
Initial reports per Mike Klis, Denver Post, suggest Trevathan escaped any major damage. Having torn my ACL in the past this would suggest that a member of the Medical Staff performed a Lachman Test, which is used to determine if there is an ACL tear, and that Trevathan likely passed.
The MRI results were just announced, Trevathan has a fractured knee cap but avoided injury to any of his major knee ligaments. The injury will sideline Trevathan for 4-8 weeks. Considering the teams approach with injuries this offseason, (Von Miller, Chris Harris, Kevin Vickerson) it is likely Trevathan will not return to the lineup until he is fully recovered which means he will likely miss the first 3-4 games of the season. The team has a plethora of replacement options on the roster, but there will be a huge drop off.
Brandon Marshall
I was tempted to start this off with a Brandon Marshall the Wide Receiver joke, but that has been overplayed. Brandon Marshall has made waves this offseason, working primarily with the 2nd team and consistently making big plays. To this point, Marshall has been nothing more than a Practice Squad/Special Team player during his career. Historically Jack Del Rio defenses tend to get a ton of production out of the Will backer dating back to his time in Jacksonville with Daryl Smith, carrying over to his Bronco Defense with DJ WIlliams, Wesley Woodyard and Danny Trevathan. Marshall would mark a drop up from Trevathan in every aspect of the game, but the biggest drop off would be in coverage where Trevathan is recognized as one of the better coverage backers in the league. Marshall has the skill set to step in and help negate Trevathans loss, but will not be able to replace his affect on the field.
Lamin Barrow
Barrow was selected in the 5th round of the 2014 draft to compete with Nate Irving for the starting MLB job. Thus far, Lamins Bronco career has been up and down, starting strong during rookie mini camp and OTAs and falling off at the beginning of training camp only to pick up his play the last 10 days or so. Barrow has primarily worked out as the Mike backer during the off season, but has plenty of experience as a WLB from his time at LSU. What is working against him most is that he has struggled in coverage since the beginning of training camp. Barrow may see an increase in time at WLB in the coming days of camp, but don’t count on him to contribute much while Trevathan is sidelined.
Corey Nelson
The little known linebacker was a complete after thought on draft day when the Broncos made them their final draft pick. Nelson is the closest to Trevathan in size, but has been buried on the depth chart and has struggled to stand out. The injury may end up opening the door for Nelson to make the 53 man roster, at least until Trevathan is ready to play. If Trevathan makes his way onto the PUP list, that would open up a roster spot for the first 5 games (6 weeks) of the season.
After Trevathans injury today, Marshall and Barrow both saw time with the starters. This will be a situation to monitor in the coming weeks as Danny is primed to miss key contests against the Colts, Chiefs and Seahawks.
Join the discussion, who do you think will step up and how effective do you think they will be?