Brendan Langley will be counted on in second NFL season
Denver Broncos second-year cornerback Brendan Langley will be counted on in his second NFL season, especially if Aqib Talib is gone…
The Denver Broncos are going to have to make some tough roster decisions in the coming weeks, and one move that could be on the horizon is a release or trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib, whose presence in the defensive backfield has helped the Broncos become a consistent top five unit in the secondary.
But as we progress toward the 2018 season, it could be a different cornerback that could be counted on to play a lot of snaps, and really step up into a prominent role defensively.
That cornerback is 2017 third round pick Brendan Langley, a former Georgia Bulldog who transferred to play at Lamar University and learn the cornerback position.
Langley was not quite ready for his rookie season in the NFL. The most optimistic outlook of his season would have had him contributing as a fourth or fifth cornerback and key special teams player, and ultimately, he was passed on the depth chart by undrafted Marcus Rios.
By season’s end, Langley had played 291 total snaps, 108 of which were with the defense and 183 of which came as a special teams player.
Langley showed the ability in college to return punts and kicks, and as a former wide receiver, has excellent ball skills.
But technique-wise, it had been slow-going for the third round pick. The Broncos made him somewhat of a surprise pick this past season and even John Elway called him the night of the draft ‘raw’ as the first word to describe the player he’d just selected.
So, we knew there would be a significant transition for him going from college to the pros, but I think we expected some progression throughout the year.
The Broncos have hired a new defensive backs coach in Greg Williams, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, to come in and supplement the work of Marcus Robertson, who remains on Vance Joseph and Joe Woods’ defensive staff.
All four of those guys have been defensive backs coaches within the last four years in this league, so if Langley is just in need of some coaching and development, there are no shortage of guys in Denver that can provide it.
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At 6-feet, over 200 pounds, Langley ran a 4.43 second 40-yard dash with 22 bench press reps, a 35.5-inch vertical jump…You see where I’m going with this?
The kid is a freak athletically, and after his rookie season with the Broncos, is going to be counted on to make a significant impact on the Broncos’ defense.
If Aqib Talib leaves, the Broncos really need someone that can allow Chris Harris Jr. to remain in the slot the majority of the time, though Langley certainly has the physical ability and quickness to play inside — as does Bradley Roby — should the need arise.
The Broncos have seemingly done an excellent job of bringing along defensive backs in recent years. I fully expect no exception with Langley as long as he’s obviously putting in the work as well.
With so much talk about what the Broncos might or might not do in the draft, it’s easy to just say they’ll give up on a guy that was considered a bit of a project coming out of college one year into his deal, but with Langley, they knew they needed to afford themselves some patience.
We will see if it pays off.