Denver Broncos: Bradley Chubb spreading cheer and sacking QBs

Denver Broncos rookie outside linebacker Bradley Chubb is spreading cheer this holiday season and striking fear into opposing QBs.

The Denver Broncos are extremely active in the community, pouring countless hours and investing their free time in people. They are making an impact off the field in a significant way, bringing joy to people who may be less fortunate, are on hard times, or who simply need a smile brought to their face.

Bradley Chubb has taken to the Broncos’ commitment to serving the community extremely well and has been actively involved since he joined the team.

There are a number of Broncos players spreading holiday cheer this Christmas season and Chubb was recently part of an awesome event where he teamed up with JCPenney, surprising 25 children from the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver with a $100 shopping spree to purchase gifts for their families for Christmas.

Chubb was kind enough to take some time to do an interview over the phone after the event, which was a great success, as well as his rookie season.

In addition to watching the joy and surprise on these kids’ faces as they were able to go on shopping sprees, Chubb said some of the most impactful moments he’s experienced this year while serving the community include walking into the Denver Children’s Hospital, an experience that can certainly change your perspective on life.

"“You had to wear a whole jumpsuit just to go into the room and talk to them. Seeing the smile on their face when you walk in the door is pretty cool.”— Broncos rookie Bradley Chubb on being involved in the community"

Chubb’s presence in Denver is fortuitous for the team, despite the circumstances that brought him there in the first place.

Not only did the Broncos have to be terrible the year prior to be in a position to select a player of Chubb’s caliber, but they also had to wait out four picks ahead of them in the 2018 NFL Draft and see what fell into their laps.

Nobody — including the Broncos or Chubb — expected him to be on the board with the fifth overall pick in 2018. As a result of his availability, the Broncos have experienced a bit of a turnaround in 2018 compared to 2017 when they had one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

They aren’t where they want to be yet, but the culture in Denver has absolutely shifted back to one of high hopes, high expectations. In 2017, there were very few who had high hopes at all.

This culture shift for the Broncos has the makings of something really special. Chubb said that he was part of something similar in his first year at North Carolina State, and this is dejá vu all over again.

"“When I went to college, my class kind of came in and changed the culture. I feel like it’s dejá vu all over again. We’ve got a great group of rookies and even young guys who are (in their) second year in the league, first on the active roster…I’m just trying to be the best leader I can be…This is going to be a game to really define our future (vs. Cleveland).”"

The game against Cleveland is a really unique one in the fact that each team has 13 rookies on its active roster. The Broncos just recently promoted number 13 (safety Trey Marshall) off of the practice squad but the future of both of these teams appears to be tied to their 2018 rookie class.

Chubb saying that this is a game to really ‘define’ the future of the Broncos is not simply hyperbole. This is more than just the historical significance of the Broncos’ dominance over Cleveland. This is a game that will showcase some of the league’s elite rookie talent, and the Broncos have the pieces to be able to beat Baker Mayfield, a player they probably would have selected if he had made it to the fifth overall selection.

Though Mayfield plays the glamorous quarterback position and has generated considerably more national hype than Chubb, Chubb has helped get the Broncos back into the top five of the NFL when it comes to overall sacks as a team.

He has 12 this season, and has given the Broncos their best duo since DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller were both playing at a high level in 2014-15.

As fate would have it, the Broncos convinced Ware to be a part-time pass rush coordinator this year and Ware has taught Chubb a lot. In fact, Chubb says that learning from Ware has been like drinking through a fire hose at times. He has more information than the young rusher can digest in one sitting, but for all of his advice and coaching, we have yet to see anyone bust out the fake spin move Ware put on Joe Staley in the 2014 season.

Apparently, there are some friendly disagreements as to whether or not that move was on purpose.

"“Von said that he did not mean to do that, that he slipped. There’s a lot of junk talk when it comes to that. ‘D’ swears up and down that it was a fake spin.”"

As good as some of the pass rushers have been early in their NFL careers over the last 20 years, it’s shocking to me that no one has broken Jevon Kearse’s nearly 20-year old record of 14.5 sacks in a season.

Chubb is on pace to break it with three games remaining and 12 sacks already, but it’s not something he’s focused on.

Although, he doesn’t think it would be cool.

"“It would be pretty cool, honestly. At the end of the day, I came into this season not trying to put a number on whether I get this many sacks, this many tackles, or TFLs. I came in just trying to win as many games as I could and then look back on the season and see everything I accomplished. Right now, my mindset is to forget that sack record right now and go out there and win these next three and get a birth in the playoffs.“"

For the Broncos to get back to the playoffs, they are going to need to win out and they are going to need some other teams to fail badly. There will be one Wild Card spot occupied by either the Chargers or Chiefs, and the last Wild Card spot is up for grabs with about seven AFC teams realistically vying for it.

The last three weeks in the NFL season will be dramatic, and the Broncos’ young pass rush weapon is one of their strongest advantages now and into the future.