FanPost

Broncos 11 Current D-Linemen

The D-Linmen currently on the team surprised me. Once I lined them all up in the table below, I realised that there are only three of them who will begin the 2014 season with more than 3 years experience. We had that many who were rookies last year.

Demarcus-ware-cools-down-after-a-game_medium

via image2.redbull.com Demarcus Ware

Demarcus Ware is the Peyton Manning of the D-line, & guys like Hall Davis, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, Quanterus Smith, & John Youboty will learn a great deal from him in the next 2 - 3 years, right along with Von Miller. Does anyone else think that John Elway had that bonus in mind when he signed Ware?

I also didn't realise that Vickerson and Ware are the same age, even though Ware has two more years experience in the league. I'm also wondering if Ware's 258 pounds is a typo, because he seems like a bigger guy than that.

Here's the list:

NAME

HEIGHT

WEIGHT

AGE

EXP

COLLEGE

DE #94 DeMarcus Ware

6-4

258

31

10

Troy

DT #99 Kevin Vickerson

6-5

328

31

8

Michigan State

DT #98 Terrance Knighton

6-3

335

27

5

Temple

DE #72 Hall Davis

6-4

270

27

3

Louisiana-Lafayette

DT #98 Sione Fua

6-1

310

25

3

Stanford

DT #96 Mitch Unrein

6-4

306

26

3

Wyoming

DE #97 Malik Jackson

6-5

293

24

2

Tennessee

DE #95 Derek Wolfe

6-5

285

24

2

Cincinnati

DE #93 Quanterus Smith

6-5

255

24

R

Western Kentucky

DT #92 Sylvester Williams

6-2

313

25

R

North Carolina

DE #79 John Youboty

6-4

258

24

R

Temple

With 5 DT's & 6 DE's on the roster it makes me wonder how eager the Broncos will be to select a D-line player this year. The season ended last year with just 3 DE's and 4 DT's on the active roster, Vickerson & Q. Smith on IR, and Youboty on the PS.

The active DE's were Robert Ayers, Malik Jackson & Jeremy Mincey, and the DT's were Terrance Knighton, Sylvester Williams, Mitch Unrein & Sione Fua.

The players I'd like to highlight are last years young 1st & second year players along with a couple of third year guys I knew very little about. Everyone is pretty familiar with what Ware, Wolfe, Vickerson, Knighton & Unrein bring to the team.

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via fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net

DE #93 Quanterus Smith – It's easy for us to forget about players like Smith who sat on IR for the year. Prior to some "bad luck" (torn acl) during his final year of college, he was leading the nation with 12.5 sacks (3 on D.J. Fluker of Alabama).

He was last years 5th round selection, and would have gone much higher if not for the injury. The Broncos showed great insight and the patience to take him and give him the time to recover on their IR roster.

2012 stats: 10 games, 38 tackles (18.5 for loss) 12.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 TD (75-yard fumble return) and he missed the final two games of the season. This is a guy I have high hopes for, and can see him picking up where Ware leaves off upon retirement.

He is slated by some as a situational pass rusher, but with 18.5 tackles for a loss during just 10 games in 2012, who knows how much he could up his run game over the next 2-3 years. Having Ware to learn from should help him as well.

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via a.espncdn.com

DE #97 Malik Jackson – Last year Jackson finally got some opportunities to show his stuff. Our 2012 5th round pick recorded 42 tackles, 6 sacks, 5 stuffs, 1 FF, & 3 hurries, according to http://www.sportingcharts.com/. He played 591 of 1,127 possible defensive snaps (52.4%).

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via extras.mnginteractive.com

DE #95 Derek Wolfe – Our first pick of the 2012 draft, Wolfe made an immediate impact. Then, as we all know, he suffered a delayed reaction to an injury earlier in the year, but according to all the reports, he is in great shape to resume his promising career this year.

Along with his high motor, Wolfe is a versatile player who plays well at both the DT & DE positions given the way that JDR uses him.

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via upload.wikimedia.org

DE #72 Hall Davis – Davis is a 3rd year player who has made his rounds during a short 3 year career. He was drafted in 2010 by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round.

He's spent time with the Washington Redskins, Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, and has not yet found a permanent home. Davis played both WR & DE in HS, so the guy has versatile physical abilities.

He signed a 4 year rookie deal with the Rams, was traded to the Redskins on August 30, 2010, for an undisclosed conditional draft pick, and then released on the very next day. That was a brilliant move by the Skins!

He then spent a year on the Titans PS (2010), was signed to a future/reserve contract by the Raiders in 2012, and then signed to Denvers' PS on January 7, 2014. He's essentially still a rookie in my minds eye.

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via aaronontiveroz.files.wordpress.com

DE #79 John Youboty (UCFA) – The last of the DE's in this group, John joined the Broncos April 30, 2013 and has not registered any stats in the NFL having spent all of his time on the PS.

He started 18 career games for Temple after beginning his collegiate career at Marshall University. Here's what CBS Sports has to say about him.

The younger brother of former Ohio State third round cornerback Ashton, John Youboty has the frame of an edge rusher, but plays mainly inside at defensive tackle for the Owls.

(He) was a three-star defensive end out of high school and received scholarship offers from big programs like Michigan State, Nebraska and Missouri. However, he decided to enroll at Marshall to play for head coach Mark Snyder, who coached his brother as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

After redshirting in 2008, he played in every game as a back-up in 2009, recording 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks. However, Snyder was fired prior to the 2010 season and Youboty... decided to transfer to Temple in 2011. (He started) seven games last season at tackle and finishing with 18 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and 1 fumble recovery.

Youboty is playing out of position for the Owls, but works his tail off with an obvious passion for the game. He is a tad undersized to play with his hand on the ground and it will be interesting to see how Temple uses him in 2012.

--Dane Brugler

It seems to me that he made a bad choice in schools, and should have accepted the scholarship to Michigan State, Nebraska or Missouri.

Slyvester_williams_denver_broncos_rookie_camp_e16rleq_4d-l_medium

via www4.pictures.zimbio.com

DT #92 Sylvester Williams – The Broncos lucked out when Williams dropped to the 28th draft slot in the first round last year.

They pushed him hard during the off season in preparation to provide the team with significant "rookie reps" in his first year here. (He played 85% of the defensive snaps in the preseason finale against Arizona)

It wasn't until Vickerson went down with an injury that Williams finally started to get significant snaps(296 of 1,127 – 26.3%). Knighton has been mentoring him and seems encouraged with his progress.

The guy is a beast, and I look forward to his continued development. He started 4 games, recorded 19 tackles, 2 sacks & 1 FR.

DT #98 Sione Fua – Fua was a 3rd round draft pick by the Panthers in 2011 having played three seasons at Stanford. He is of Tongan descent.

Here is some interesting info from WIKI:

Besides football, Fua was also an accomplished wrestler. Competing in the heavyweight division, where he constantly had to keep his weight below the 275-pound (125 kg) maximum, Fua won a CIF State Wrestling Championship as a senior in 2006.

He beat fellow Polynesian Romney Fuga of Huntington Beach Edison High School, who himself became a nose tackle at Brigham Young. Fua became the first wrestler from the San Fernando Valley to win a state title since Keith Harvey of Newbury Park High School in 1985.

After starting in eleven games for the Panthers in 2011, he was placed on the injured reserve list on December 6... (and) was cut on August 31, 2013. He re-signed on September 11, 2013. In the week of November 8, the Panthers announced that they would be switching Fua to the guard position. On November 12, he was waived.

He was signed by the Broncos on November 27, 2013 when Kevin Vickerson was placed on injured reserve. He had 11 starts for Carolina in 2011 and just 1 in 2012.

Well, what do you all think of the D-line group? Do we really need to draft another D-line guy this year, or do we have enough talent to run with what we have while all these young guys develop? When do we say enough is enough and have some patience with the coaching staff.

Are we as fans ALWAYS going to be impatient - wanting every player drafted to start on day one?

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