Projecting Denver Broncos Rookie Impact in 2015
May 27, 2015; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker Shane Ray (56) speaks to the media following organized team activities at the Broncos training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Broncos had one of their largest draft classes in the John Elway era in 2015, and along with the sizable amount of players will come some high expectations.
The Broncos traded up in the first round of the draft to get Shane Ray when most people thought they were going to attack the offensive line with their first selection, but they proved that wasn’t necessarily the case. John Elway has never used a first round pick on the offensive side of the football, nor has he used his top pick to select an offensive player in his time with the Broncos as VP of Football Operations or General Manager.
The Denver defense is going to be phenomenal this season, and Shane Ray is just one reason why. But he’s not the only rookie that’s going to be making an impact for the Broncos. Let’s take a look pick-by-pick at what kind of impact these players will be making in the 2015 season for the Denver Broncos, one they hope will be a Super Bowl year.
1. Shane Ray, OLB
Shane Ray has been covered at length here at Predominantly Orange. He’s not only a phenomenal pass rusher, but he can get pressure on the QB in a variety of ways. Advanced metrics show that Ray’s 17 sacks last season were widespread through his ability to bend the edge, use speed-to-power conversion, and playing a variety of different positions.
With Wade Phillips in Denver as the defensive coordinator, there’s no doubt in my mind there will be packages in 2015 that feature Ray, and he’s going to get plenty of favorable matchups with Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware on the field at the same time.
The Broncos can line him up as an end in a four-man front or they can line him up in a two-point stance in their base look, but Ray could also be effectively used as an interior blitzing rusher in nickel or sub-packages.
I don’t see a ton of snaps in year one for Ray, perhaps not even as many as Bradley Roby saw last year, simply due to the fact that he’ll be playing behind Miller and Ware, but I think we’ll see him on the field plenty and he’s going to have to be efficient with his snaps.
I’m going to predict a very optimistic eight sacks in year one from Ray, proving his worth as a rotational rusher and cleaning up the work done by Miller/Ware/Malik Jackson and the others on the Broncos’ stellar defensive front.
Next: Ty Sambrailo