The Denver Broncos have themselves a true defensive weapon in Baron Browning. There’s very little he can’t do well defensively.
Everyone in Broncos Country is excited to find out how the team is actually going to utilize 2021 third-round pick Baron Browning this coming season.
The Denver Broncos took Browning with the final pick of day two in last year’s draft, knowing full well that versatility was a strength of his but positional ambiguity also likely led to him falling beyond the top 50-64 picks, where most had projected him.
Now entering his second NFL season, Browning is making the transition from off-ball linebacker to the edge position. For him, this is nothing new. He’s been playing both positions since he was at Ohio State and he’s found a way to excel at doing just about everything.
Baron Browning gives the Denver Broncos options
Need someone to cover CeeDee Lamb or Ja’Marr Chase out of the slot? Browning’s got that covered.
Need someone to get to the quarterback in less than two seconds? Browning can do that as well.
Quarterback spy? You guessed it.
Setting the edge? Yes.
Browning could change jerseys on any given play and no one would ever really know the difference. If you threw him in a number 99 jersey, he could pass for a defensive lineman.
If you threw him in a 21, he could pass for a defensive back.
Wearing number 56 for the Denver Broncos, Browning’s jersey number screams “middle linebacker” but his game says so much more than that.
The Denver Broncos are giving him a shot at edge this offseason, but there’s got to be more to that story, doesn’t there?
Browning moving to the edge has left the team rather thin at the off-ball linebacker position. Josey Jewell is back, Alex Singleton brings starting experience from the Eagles, and Jonas Griffith is another promising young player in Denver.
With all of that said, where are the reps coming for Browning off the edge?
The Broncos have Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory as two of the five highest-paid players on the team this year. They just used their top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Nik Bonitto, a pass rusher out of Oklahoma.
Malik Reed is back for another season.
Where does Browning fit in?
I think we’re all eager to find out more about the team’s plans for him. Nathaniel Hackett said that the switch to the edge position is really about finding out what this player is really good at. I think we saw a lot of good things from Browning in his rookie season but I also don’t believe he’s a full-time off-ball linebacker.
The Broncos should be looking into the ways Dan Quinn utilized Micah Parsons last season for the Dallas Cowboys and taking specific notice of that, copying his role and virtually pasting it to Browning.
In many cases, it would be foolish to compare a third-round pick like Browning to a player like Parsons, who was arguably one of the best overall defensive players in the entire league last season as a rookie.
But Browning has comparable metrics in every way, and he has shown on tape that he can actually do many of the same things Parsons can in terms of his coverage abilities, range, pass rush abilities, and toughness off the edge.
It’s up to the Denver Broncos to help Browning reach and even exceed his perceived ceiling as a prospect. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero obviously has some kind of vision for him, and he’s got to be collaborating with George Paton, the man who drafted Browning in the first place.
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Finding a role for this guy on at least 65-75 percent of the snaps this year will be crucial. Browning is undoubtedly one of the Broncos’ 11 most talented defensive players, so regardless of where he’s lined up, getting him on the field is of critical importance.