Broncos LB Todd Davis Working With Starters This Offseason
The Denver Broncos have a dilemma on their hands this offseason with inside linebacker Todd Davis, who ascended into a starting role last year after being picked up as an injury replacement.
A rookie out of Sacramento State last year, Davis was picked up off of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad, and wound up getting quickly acclimated to the Broncos’ defense, enough to the point that they put him in the lineup over draft picks Lamin Barrow and Corey Nelson who saw snaps sporadically on defense last year.
More of a traditional inside linebacker, Davis has great range and showed he has good — albeit inconsistent — coverage ability. The inside linebacker position for the Broncos is going to take on some major changes this offseason with the players they have nursing injuries, the guys brought in for depth, and the returning young players fighting it out for presumably four spots.
In a 3-4 defensive look, the Broncos will basically combine their DE/OLB spots with guys who played pass rushing DE roles last year and the ILB spots will go to guys who played OLB last year.
For example:
Von Miller was considered an OLB last year. He’ll remain an OLB on the roster this year as an edge rusher, but he also lines up as a defensive end at times. Brandon Marshall played OLB last year, but not as much in a pass rushing role. He will be moved to the ILB spot this year, though he could still play a similar spot to the one he did last year on the weak side.
Players like Davis and Steven Johnson were considered ILBs last year, and they’ll remain ILBs.
All that said, the Broncos are going to have stiff competition for their ILB spots, and Davis is a guy they are obviously high on. He’s been working with the starters this offseason and is commanding plenty of attention from the coaching staff, front office, and those who cover the team.
If Davis can make an impression early on, he might have an inside track at a starting job to start the season if for any reason Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan are not ready to go. The Broncos might also prefer him being around when the roster is finalized later this year due to his starting experience last year in big spots, and the fact that he played pretty darn well for an undrafted rookie.
If not for a -7.2 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, Davis had an overall grade of +9.1, which would have put him just below Terrance Knighton as the sixth highest graded player for the Broncos last year.
They may have unearthed another gem at the linebacker position.