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The Broncos’ Defense is Finally Ready to Carry The Load in 2015

By Kyle Sumner McKinnon

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General manager John Elway and the Denver Broncos have spent much of the offseason, and most of their picks in the NFL draft, on crafting a stout, top of the line defensive unit.

For the past couple of years, the Broncos’ defense has had some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-esque seasons. In 2012, Denver was home to one of the best defenses the NFL had to offer. The very next season, a rash of injuries and the lengthy suspension/season ending injury of Von Miller quickly derailed any hopes for a repeat performance.

Then came 2014 and a slight rebirth of the vaunted “Orange Crush”. It wasn’t as dominant a unit as some would’ve liked, but it was a vast improvement over the prior season’s lowly version.

That being said, over the course of a turbulent five months dating back to January, Elway and Co. have finally built a defense worthy of carrying the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory since 1999.

Coaching changes

After failing to meet expectations for the third year in a row, Elway gave the boot to defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. Elway subsequently brought in former Broncos’ head coach and defensive mastermind Wade Phillips to take the reins.

Phillips notably has a long track record of fielding some of the most formidable defenses in the league. More recently, he helped bring the Houston Texans’ defense back to life as DC for Gary Kubiak from 2011-2013. Houston’s defense went from worst to nearly-first under Phillips’ tutelage.

His aggressive style fits the Broncos’ personnel like a glove, as does his 3-4 defensive scheme. Shutdown cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib will be given more opportunities to make plays from the outside, and safety T.J. Ward should have more freedom to roam around on the backend.

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DeMarcus Ware worked with Phillips down in Dallas for a number of years as a member of the Cowboys, enjoying historic/record breaking seasons in the process. Fellow edge-rusher Von Miller is a slightly more dominant version of Ware’s Cowboy-self and could experience familiar success under Phillips. Players like Malik Jackson and Shane Ray should also greatly benefit in the new scheme.

In addition to Phillips and all that he brings to the table, Elway also hired defensive line coach and legendary bear wrestler, Bill Kollar.

He’s a feisty guy and one helluva coach. Kollar is widely viewed as the best in the biz when it comes to coaching up a defensive line, and is a huge part of why J.J. Watt is, well, J.J. Watt. Here’s Watt’s departing words on his former coach, per Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com.

"“The ability to have him throughout my entire time here definitely helped with the transition,” Watt said last month. “It’s also just helped make me a better player. He has so much experience in this league, and he is such a tough coach, but he is a very, very good coach. Every single day is something new with him. I’m always learning, and I’m always improving as a player.”"

You can’t undersell Kollar as he may end up being just as vital a get for the Broncos as Phillips.

Free agency addition by subtraction

Broncos Country was in a frenzy when Elway decided to part ways with defensive mainstays in Terrance Knighton, Rahim Moore, and Nate Irving (kind of). For how productive those three respectively were in their time with the Broncos, each have been adequately replaced, plain and simple.

Former Baltimore Ravens safety Darian Stewart is an all-around solid player with good instincts. He doesn’t get burned in coverage often and rarely makes mental mistakes. At times, Moore was vulnerable in coverage and his infamous playoff gaffe versus the Ravens in 2013 need not be mentioned here.

Irving had no direct replacement signed via the draft or free agency because the current talent on the roster is already sufficient enough. Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan each are projected to play on the inside this upcoming season in the Broncos’ 3-4 alignment. Both are absolutely oozing with All-Pro potential and if they can stay relatively healthy in 2015, particularly Trevathan, All-Pro selections are a definite possibility.

There wasn’t much protest from Broncos Country when it was learned that “Orange” Julius Thomas would be moving on from the team, but Terrance Knighton was a different story. His overall impact on and off the field, invaluable leadership, and repeated sentiments that he’d take a pay cut to stay in Denver all struck a cord in many fans when Elway decided to part ways with the man known as “Pot Roast”.

The cheap, one-year, $4 million contract he ended up receiving from the Washington Redskins seemed to hurt even more.

The loss of Knighton might be felt next season, but the blow of losing such a high caliber player was lessened considerable through free agency.

Versatile veterans Vance Walker and Antonio Smith will look to erase the thought of Knighton. Walker had a solid 2014 campaign with the Kansas City Chiefs, while Smith had somewhat of a down year in his short stint with Oakland. He can still be effective though, and Smith really gives the Broncos great flexibly on the line. His past experience with Gary Kubiak, Wade Phillips and Bill Kollar doesn’t hurt, either.

Sure, veteran players like Sylvester Williams and Derek Wolfe will need to step up in order to mask what was lost to free agency, but they’re certainly not alone in doing so any more.

Further strengthening through the draft

The Broncos were able to come away with a handful a players in the second half of the draft that will fight to make any sort of contribution to the defense and/or special teams. Cornerback Lorenzo Doss and nose tackle Darius Kilgo stand out of those late selections and both have the opportunity to make their presences felt despite their draft status.

Doss and Kilgo are nice quality picks, but there’s one player that has created quite an inordinate amount of buzz in Broncos Country.

Two words: Shane Ray.

Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Shane Ray (Missouri) poses with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

A dynamic edge-rusher and an all-around athletic, disruptive force while at the University of Missouri, Ray fell within the Broncos’ range in the draft because of some off the field issues that took place shortly before what could’ve been the most important day of his young life.

Ray was originally projected to be a top-10 pick, and for good reason. Here’s what our own Sayre Bedinger had to say about him.

"“When you listen to other people talk about Ray, the main concern you hear (other than off the field) is regarding his size, but Ray is an incredible talent. This is a guy who is relentless after the quarterback, or whoever is carrying the ball, and now he has a lot of people to prove wrong for passing on him in the draft.”"

He has an incredibly bright future and could form a terrorizing duo with Von Miller. DeMarcus Ware should remain in the fold for about a year or two more, so Ray will likely find himself in rotation with the future Hall of Famer. It’s also well-documented that the Broncos’ pass rush fell off quite a bit as the season went on, so the importance of a edge-rusher of Ray’s caliber can’t be overstated.

Ray has the ability to make an immediate impact day one for the Broncos. Anything but would truly come as a surprise.

Depth and talent

The current unit the Broncos call a defense going into offseason activities is one of the best, if not the best in all of the NFL.

On paper, there are almost no weaknesses on any level of what many are already calling “Orange Crush 2.0”.

Losing Rahim Moore and Terrance Knighton might sting a bit in the early goings of the season, but with more-than capable replacements, such as Darian Stewart, ready to take the defense to another level, a drop-off in production is highly unlikely.

On paper, there are almost no weaknesses on any level of what many are already calling “Orange Crush 2.0”.

Their linebacking core has some depth concerns, a problem that has solutions on the roster. An unproven defensive interior is worrisome as well and placing so much faith in potential draft-bust Sylvester Williams might come back to haunt John Elway, but the Broncos’ defense has all the integral pieces in place to make a true Super Bowl run.

Peyton Manning and Denver’s high-flying offenses of year’s past won’t be what carries the team to a championship this season.

Instead, a defense that has the skill, killer-instinct, and depth necessary to shoulder the load for both units when need be, will decide the fate of the Broncos in 2015.

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