Denver Broncos Secret Weapon: Virgil Green
Quarterback’s best friend aside from running back is tight end.
If Mark Sanchez, Paxton Lynch or Trevor Siemian is named the starter for week one against the Carolina Panthers, the role of Virgil Green is possible to expand this 2016 season. However, Green will miss most of the organized team activites, but is still expected to play an important part in another Super Bowl run.
“I do feel that way. With O.D. (TE Owen Daniels) being gone, like you said, there is a better chance. I really want to in training camp show that I can be not just the pass guy, but just the every-down tight end guy,” Green said.
Green during his collegiate career at Nevada was an established receiving threat and would later build up his reputation as an elite blocking tight end. Broncos are expected to run the football and establish the offense Gary Kubiak had in mind, in life after Peyton Manning. This system fits Green perfectly with tight end screens, play action rollouts and already has established a rapport with Sanchez.
“He’s very vocal. He talks. He wants to know what we’re doing. He wants to know what the guys are doing up front. I feel like he’s a great leader. I like the way he throws the ball. I like the way he moves. He has a nice, tight spiral. He’s a smart guy, and that’s what you look for in a quarterback,” Green on chemistry with Sanchez.
The tight end position is the ultimate translator from basketball to football or vice versa. Green has an uncanny ability like former Broncos tight end, Julius Thomas to box out defenders catching passes and tremendous knack to fight for yards after the catch. One of those many tight ends on the roster who is expected to see some time this season is Jeff Heuerman whom Green thinks is a 100 percent.
“He’s out there running hard. He has nice routes. He’s catching the ball well. I like the way he looks,” Green on Heuerman’s health.
Regardless of the named starter for the Broncos, better offensive play is in store for the franchise with all the weapons at the quarterback’s disposal. Virgil Green states the team needs to depend on one another as an offense not putting too much pressure on the defense again inserting himself as a leader of the team.
“We just have to depend on each other. A lot of times last year, offensively we had to rely on the defense and special teams. This is a team sport. It’s not just about one phase. It’s about everybody putting in the effort to complete one common goal,” Green said.
Sanchez had a good relationship with Brent Celek while in Philadelphia and enjoys throwing to tight ends. Rookies or first-year starters like having the safety net of a tight end. Green would make any quarterback comfortable knowing his role will expand in 2016.
Virgil Green, in my opinion is the secret weapon to the Broncos on offense to move the chains in 2016 next to new fullback, Andy Janovich.