Denver Broncos: Predicting the defensive line group for 2020
The rest / The rotation
Christian Covington
The Broncos signed the free agent Covington after the 2020 NFL Draft, and it’s obviously safe to say this front office took a liking to the Houston Texans’ defensive line tape from a couple of years ago.
They not only signed Covington but also tried to sign DJ Reader and they brought in Joel Heath at the end of the 2019 season as well.
Covington played 481 snaps for the Cowboys’ defense in 2019 and also contributed almost 18 percent of their special teams snaps.
He’s a versatile player who should not be counted out to make this Broncos roster.
Kyle Peko
The Broncos don’t really have many ‘true’ nose tackles on the roster, but Peko is one of them.
He’s not as big as Mike Purcell, but Peko is a wide body on the interior defensive line who has been on again off again with the Broncos, Bills, and Colts since 2017.
He was signed late last season when injuries started mounting for the Broncos.
Jonathan Harris
The Broncos plucked Harris away from the Chicago Bears during the 2019 season but we never got to see much of him.
The former Lindenwood star comes highly recommended from the school’s head coach Jed Stugart as both a person and player, and the Broncos clearly liked what they had seen from them in scouting before the draft.
Joel Heath
How often do you see the Broncos put in a waiver claim on a player after the regular season who can’t ever actually be on your roster?
The Broncos were basically awarded Heath’s rights after the 2019 season and they held his restricted free agent status in the 2020 offseason, but instead of slapping him wth a tender, they negotiated a one-year contract to bring him aboard the 2020 group.
He’s got some NFL starts and decent tape under his belt already.
The Rotation
I absolutely love the Broncos’ defensive line group. What’s not to like?
There’s a strong mix of veterans and youth and the players the Broncos have assembled appear poised for one of the best single position group battles of any on the roster in 2020.
This unit will be must-watch no matter if we’re talking about the first quarter or fourth quarter of a preseason game because every guy can make plays and you could make the case for every single one of these guys to make the final roster in 2020.
Ultimately, the 2020 rotation will depend upon how much Fangio wants to rotate guys to keep them fresh, but we could see something like this:
- Jurrell Casey: 600 snaps
- Shelby Harris: 600 snaps
- Mike Purcell: 400 snaps
- Dre’Mont Jones: 400 snaps
- DeMarcus Walker: 300 snaps
- McTelvin Agim: 150 snaps
If everyone stays healthy, this is a realistic potential snap division among the Broncos’ projected top 6 players.
Next. Latest Denver Broncos roster, depth chart prediction. dark
The outside factors at play here are guys who play their way onto the roster and earn snaps, which lessens the load for each of these guys but could ultimately make the Broncos that much more dangerous.