Denver Broncos: Josey Jewell is the forgotten man at linebacker

Don’t forget about Josey Jewell in the Denver Broncos ILB competition.

Injuries have been mounting quickly for the Denver Broncos in training camp this summer. Even worse, two of the injuries were within the inside linebacker position group, leaving the team vulnerable at an already vulnerable spot.

Current starter Todd Davis is nursing a calf injury and is expected out for several weeks while fifth-round pick Justin Strnad out for the season with a wrist injury.

Immediately afterward, the analysis started pouring out about potential replacement options for the Denver Broncos inside linebacker group with most of the focus being on external options like the recently released Nigel Bradham.

Don’t get me wrong, the Denver Broncos do lack depth at the position. That is quite apparent to Vic Fangio as well considering they moved Justin Hollins back to inside linebacker despite being a more natural pass rusher. They also will likely need to bring in someone off the street as well.

But why is nobody mentioning Josey Jewell as a potential starter at this point?

I know he isn’t the long term option at the inside linebacker position. He doesn’t have the athleticism or coverage skills required in a Vic Fangio defense to be a full-time starter. But, he is a more than capable replacement in the short-term, and he has valuable starter experience.

Entering his third season, Jewell has made 12 career starts in 31 career games. In that time, he has racked up 96 tackles (5 of which were for a loss), 1.5 sacks, and 3 passes defended. Diving deeper into the analytics, according to Pro Football Focus, Jewell graded out slightly above average with a grade of 61.7 in his rookie season (while playing 43% of the defensive snaps) and 68.4 (while playing 20% of the defensive snaps) in his sophomore season.

And let’s not forget that had it not been for the somewhat surprising emergence of Alexander Johnson, Jewell likely would have been the starter last season. Clearly, Johnson was an upgrade, and by no means do I think an optimal base defensive lineup for the Denver Broncos includes Jewell as a centerpiece.

With Davis and Strnad out, however,  it’s the hand that has been dealt with, and it could have been a lot worse. Not a lot of teams have a 25-year-old inside linebacker with 12 career starts and great instincts sitting on the bench ready to come in and play. Moreover, given the leagues move to a spread attack, not a lot of defenses are rolling out their base defense more than half of the game anyways.

So instead of looking at potential starter replacements at the inside linebacker position, let’s roll with Josey Jewell there until Davis gets back.