According to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, the Denver Broncos have signed DL Nelson Adams after placing Billy Winn on season-ending injured reserve…
The Denver Broncos had the unfortunate task of placing injured defensive lineman Billy Winn on injured reserve after an MRI revealed damage to his ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Along with that roster move came the decision to add defensive lineman Nelson Adams to the fray, an undrafted rookie out of Mississippi State.
Adams is 6-foot-3, 287 pounds, and had 80 tackles in his career at Mississippi State, which included 16 starts.
The signing of Adams was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Legwold:
The Broncos have officially put Billy Winn on injured reserve and they have signed Nelson Adams. Adams will... https://t.co/T939gN3m6P
— Jeff Legwold (@Jeff_Legwold) August 12, 2017
This is a move simply to get the Broncos another body in training camp along the defensive line. They would have had plans for Billy Winn to contribute in the regular season on their defensive line, but Adams is more of a developmental project.
He showed some value on special teams while at Mississippi State, specifically this past season when he blocked two kicks.
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He also showed he can be effective at times in run defense, but his production didn’t stand out statistically.
After the draft, Adams was brought in by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and obviously that didn’t work out. He will get another shot to stick on a practice squad here with the Broncos, where he has three preseason games and all of the remaining practices to try and make an impact.
The bigger story here is with Winn, whose injury is a bad one. The Broncos thought highly of him, enough to bring him back for a second year after he was sort of brought in at the last minute in 2016.
His performance was admirable last year with the Broncos, and he was penciled in as the no. 2 nose tackle on their official depth chart.
Hopefully, Winn is able to make a full recovery and play again at some point. We here at Predominantly Orange wish him nothing but the best.