Denver Broncos: Duke Dawson has strong debut in the slot

The Denver Broncos made a trade for 2018 second-round pick Duke Dawson and he played quite well in his first action of the 2019 season.

After an 0-4 start to the 2019 season, it’s safe to say things are not going according to plan for the Denver Broncos.

Things not going according to plan includes more than just the overall record, including what the Broncos had envisioned at the beginning of training camp as their starting secondary.

The Broncos signed Kareem Jackson (Texans) and Bryce Callahan (Bears) and then passed on trading Chris Harris Jr., instead giving him a raise, to try and get the best secondary possible for this team.

What the Broncos had envisioned at the beginning of training camp was completely derailed by a couple of injuries and some poor play by second-year player Isaac Yiadom.

What did Vic Fangio originally envision for his secondary?

Plan A

• CB – Bryce Callahan
• CB – Isaac Yiadom
• Slot CB – Chris Harris Jr.
• FS – Justin Simmons
• SS – Kareem Jackson

The injury to Bryce Callahan obviously set things in motion for change here as Callahan’s foot injury from 2018 was aggravated when he was stepped on at the Broncos’ training camp practice at the stadium.

Backup plan

One injury should be sustainable, although depth is tough to come by on this Denver roster. Here was the Broncos’ backup plan after losing Callahan.

• CB – Chris Harris Jr.
• CB – Isaac Yiadom
• Slot CB – Kareem Jackson
• FS – Justin Simmons
• SS – Will Parks

This was the unit the Broncos rolled into week one with, and it was the unit used primarily through the team’s first two games of the season.

After two games, it was abundantly clear that Isaac Yiadom was not ready for full-time action on the outside, and Will Parks has struggled some as well, inviting more playing time for second-year player Trey Marshall on the back end.

They used sort of an updated version of this unit for week three against the Packers.

• CB – Chris Harris Jr.
• CB – De’Vante Bausby
• Slot CB – Kareem Jackson
• FS – Justin Simmons
• SS – Will Parks/Trey Marshall

Then, in week three, Kareem Jackson — whose initial role was supposed to be safety — was injured and unavailable in the nickel.

Backup backup plan

When the Broncos went up against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they did so with their most ‘patchwork’ secondary of the year, but it may have invited and inspired some permanent change for the unit moving forward.

• CB – Chris Harris Jr.
• CB – De’Vante Bausby
• Slot CB – Duke Dawson
• FS – Justin Simmons
• SS – Will Parks

After seeing this unit against the Jaguars, it’s apparent the Broncos are finally on to something here.

Dawson, who is the focus of this piece, believe it or not, was a major reason why this team could ultimately get Kareem Jackson back to the safety position where they want him to play.

Dawson had to be brought up to speed quickly after he missed the entire offseason installation process of Vic Fangio’s complicated-but-effective-when-used-right defense, and was given a crash course prior to Denver’s game against Jacksonville.

In that game, Dawson drew a very difficult matchup against Dede Westbrook, an underrated slot receiver in today’s NFL with explosive vertical speed and excellent route running abilities.

Although Dawson was bested on the final drive for a critical 32-yard reception, it was his first regular-season NFL action as anything more than a special teams player, and he excelled.

In his snaps against the Jaguars, Dawson showed excellent physicality in the slot, good initial hand punch, great hip mobility to turn and run with the receiver, and sticky man coverage abilities as well as a strong knowledge of when to play inside and pass off coverage to his safety help.

After Dawson’s game against the Jaguars, the Broncos might be able to afford some cautious optimism that things are going to be just fine until Bryce Callahan returns this season, if he returns this season.

Dawson’s emergence would allow Jackson to move back to the safety position where Fangio ideally would like him.

That would give the Broncos a new Plan A.

Revised Plan A

• CB – Chris Harris Jr.
• CB – De’Vante Bausby
• Slot CB – Duke Dawson
• FS – Justin Simmons
• SS – Kareem Jackson

Although Dawson cannot yet be considered an ‘upgrade’ over the previous Plan A, it’s clear that Bausby is a better option than Yiadom and if Dawson can continue to show more of what we saw against the Jaguars, this re-forged secondary with a healthy Jackson again (it seems he will play against the Chargers in Los Angeles) can help get the Broncos back on track in 2019.