Denver Broncos: Jeff Holland the next Shaquil Barrett

The Denver Broncos decided to call up pass rusher Jeff Holland from the practice squad with Shaquil Barrett’s hip injury keeping him sidelined.

The Denver Broncos need a boost to their pass rush depth with Shaquil Barrett going down against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a hip injury.

Barrett, who is in a contract year with the Broncos, was once an undrafted free agent pickup who had a productive college career at Colorado State before being overlooked by scouts and executives for a lack of elite athleticism.

When you turned on Barrett’s college tape, however, it was clear the Broncos had a gem on their hands.

Barrett wasted no time making an impact, getting after the quarterback early and often in his first preseason with the team. Denver shockingly decided to cut Barrett before the start of the season, and every Broncos fan felt it was a foregone conclusion that he would spend the coming years of his NFL career in another city.

Shockingly, Barrett made it through waivers and onto the Broncos’ practice squad, where he remained until late in his rookie season. The Broncos promoted him to the active roster and the rest is really history.

Barrett has been a steady force for the Broncos as a run defender, overall edge player, and special teamer. He’s made plays all over the field for the Broncos and has been a key piece on one of the best defenses in team history.

When he’s not able to play, the Broncos’ depth takes a hit, to be certain. The addition of Bradley Chubb cemented Barrett’s role as the third guy in the pass rush rotation, and with him being out of action, Shane Ray will step up into a larger role.

But that fourth pass rush position will be filled by practice squad linebacker Jeff Holland, who had a huge season in 2017 for the Auburn Tigers.

Athletically, Holland is shockingly similar to Barrett coming out of Colorado State.

He showed off his pass rush potential a bit in the Broncos’ preseason, but was really impressing coaches in practices. He’s obviously shown enough that the team feels like he can be an asset going forward, because he’s taking Alexander Johnson’s spot on the active roster.

There was no doubt the Broncos were going to add Holland to the active roster at some point before the end of the season. There’s no way they were going to subject him to potentially signing a reserve/future deal with another team after giving him a $15,000 signing bonus after the 2018 NFL Draft.

This Broncos rookie class has been more than stellar, and Holland hasn’t even been unleashed to this point. The Broncos have a true gem on their hands here and having him on the active roster now paves the way for him to add to an historic group of young players.