Denver Broncos: Who makes the roster at outside linebacker in 2020?

Malik Reed

The Denver Broncos found Malik Reed on the 2019 undrafted player heap, and he wound up living up to the hype and potential everyone saw in him after watching his college tape.

Reed was a preseason darling for the Broncos whose domination throughout training camp and preseason games was impossible to ignore. He was a lock for the roster and appeared on track to get some regular-season snaps as the clear number three in the rotation behind Miller and Chubb.

He ended up starting eight games as a rookie with the Broncos, but his pass rush productivity over the course of 15 games total was not quite what everyone had hoped for based on his preseason play, but he was still very solid.

He finished his rookie season in Denver with 16 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, five QB hits, nine pressures, and a fumble recovery. He also played over 40 percent of the special teams snaps, proving himself valuable in that phase as well.

Reed’s juice off the edge is not to be ignored or discounted because he had some struggles in his rookie season as a rusher. He can also play in coverage and set the edge against the run well.

As an undrafted player last year, he far exceeded any expectations of pundits or draft experts simply by starting eight games and playing 15.

I think Reed’s upside is still tremendous if he can build off of what we saw in 2019.