Denver Broncos additions along the defensive line are marginal moves at best
Just because the Broncos have brought in a few new faces along the DL, does not mean the unit has gotten all that better.
Make no mistake, the most urgent need for the Denver Broncos outside of QB is getting better along the defensive front, and that's even with the recent DL moves they have made. I don't hate that the Broncos are adding cheap talent to the DL, but with how deep the DL free agent market was, it's frustrating that they didn't at least try to splurge a bit on a legitimate, starting-caliber player along the line.
Even with the multiple additions, the Denver Broncos still do not have three viable starting defensive linemen on the roster. On Monday, they signed veteran journeyman DT, Angelo Blackson. Earlier this offseason, they signed Malcolm Roach, and they brought over Rashard Lawrence on a futures deal as well.
Both Lawrence and Blackson have experience with Vance Joseph, and Roach came from New Orleans. I do like that all three have familiarity with the Broncos to a degree, but just because there are new bodies within this unit, does not mean the unit got all that better. Across his career, Blackson has started 42 of 128 career regular season games.
The Broncos are his sixth NFL team, so he's been around the block for a while and has never played more than 55% of the defensive snaps in a season. Roach has started just 5 of his 41 career regular season games and has never played more than 13 games in a season. His career high of 38 tackles in 2023 is also a bit underwhelming.
Lawrence did not play a game in 2023 and played just 25 games from 2020-2022, racking up just 30 total tackles and a total of zero QB hits. The Broncos could bring back Mike Purcell I guess, but he's old and not really much of a threat along the DL anymore. Overall, outside of Zach Allen, who is very good, the Denver Broncos don't have two other starting-caliber players along the defensive line.
So, let's not get too excited about these additions. I would bet that two of these guys (Lawrence and Blackson) could end up not being on the roster to open up the 2024 NFL Season.
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