Adam Gotsis excited to be part of the NFL’s best defense
2016 NFL Draft: Denver Broncos 2nd round pick Adam Gotsis is excited to be part of the best defense in the NFL, however soon that may be…
The Denver Broncos made somewhat a shocking selection in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft when they brought in Georgia Tech defensive lineman Adam Gotsis, a player that some felt was more of a 4th-5th round talent.
As we all know about John Elway, he and the Broncos’ draft team don’t really give a you-know-what about peoples’ draft boards, and they certainly don’t care about draft grades. The Broncos identify players who will fit their schemes offensively and defensively, and they go out and target them.
Has that always worked out?
No.
Specifically in the second round, Gotsis is looking to break a curse of sorts that the Broncos have had since John Elway came aboard. Here are some names for you:
Orlando Franklin, Rahim Moore, Derek Wolfe, Brock Osweiler, Montee Ball, Cody Latimer, Ty Sambrailo.
Three of those players remain on the roster, and those are all of John Elway’s 2nd round picks as the lead decision-maker for the Broncos.
Adam Gotsis is hoping to buck the trend that most of those guys have set, which is that of either underachieving or not really making any impact whatsoever. He’s just excited at this point to get the process of being a Bronco started.
“It has been an unreal process the whole time, from the moment I got to college throughout this moment,” Gotsis said. “It’s been a crazy process and I am glad to be a Bronco. I think all the hard work is paying off. It is the beginning of a new chapter and I can’t wait to get out there and get with the team and the culture there and become a part of the team. It is exciting stuff happening for me.”
During the draft, ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay compared Gotsis to Malik Jackson. On the NFL Network, Daniel Jeremiah said he had Gotsis compared to Derek Wolfe. I don’t know if they simply made those comparisons because the Broncos drafted him, or if they thought that before the fact, but those are two comparisons we can all get on board with.
Gotsis is still recovering from an October knee injury, so what we saw of him this past season is merely a glimpse of what he’s become as a football player. He says he hopes to be ready by the time the season starts to make an impact…
“I am about six months (into it) at the moment. I am full lifting, running and doing a lot of agility ladders and things like that—basically just getting my knee back strong, a lot of strength training on it. At the moment it is week-by-week. I don’t have an exact set deadline on when I’m coming back. It is still early in the process. For me I want to be back early August, September, ready to go 100 percent, full go. Once I get up to Denver and visit with the team doctors, they can check out my knee and do all of that, and then we can go from there. At the moment, I’m just completely thrilled to be a Denver Bronco and I can’t wait to get up there.”
Gotsis watched this year’s Super Bowl (who didn’t?) and he talked about how excited he is to join one of the best defenses in recent NFL history:
“One thing I pride myself on is playing defense. To become part of the best defense in the last 30 years or so, it’s an awesome feeling. Coming up there is going to be fun. That [will be] with true professionals and guys that leave it all out there. I watched the Super Bowl and I watched the way they play with pride and passion. They play for each other, and I think that’s the most important thing at the end of the day. They won that Super Bowl as unit. The whole defensive unit won that Super Bowl. It’s just awesome to be a part of that.”
The Denver Broncos have what many believe to be the best defensive line coach in the NFL in Bill Kollar. Kollar helped coach up and get the best out of J.J. Watt in Houston along with a number of other talented players there, and he also helped Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson — not to mention Sylvester Williams — to the best seasons of their NFL careers thus far.
Both Wolfe and Jackson got #PAID and Sylvester Williams won’t have to wait long.
Apparently, Kollar was clamoring in the draft room for Gotsis, and he helped the Broncos make the call.
Kollar has some work to do with this kid, but the physical abilities are all there. Gotsis has the type of quickness off the ball and long arms that the Broncos covet in defensive linemen, and he’s also got the toughness and nasty style of play that fits in well with what Kollar loves to work with specifically.
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This pick isn’t going to earn an A+ grade from many draft analysts, and even covering the draft every year myself, I hadn’t studied Gotsis at all. Upon further review, however, this is a player the Broncos and their staff had clearly targeted and they were thrilled to get him. There were rumors that Gotsis was going to go in the third round, and the Broncos didn’t have their additional third round pick to try and trade up for somebody.
They knew, even if they had to ‘reach’ a bit, they had to get their guy.
They got him, and we can’t wait to see him in orange and blue.