FanPost

Denver Broncos Boast Some of the Top Dynamic Duos In the League

As the season draws to a close and we eagerly anticipate the playoffs, I have been reflecting on the embarrassment of riches that we have on roster, particularly on the defensive side. As we all know, our defense finished top 5 in every major category and was the #1 ranked defense in yards allowed and sacks. Although our players haven't received the Pro Bowl and All-Pro love like they did last year, Pro Football Focus has taken notice of our players.

Their end of the season position rankings are what inspired me to write this post where I will be breaking down some of the top flight duos on our team. Hopefully this gives us a chance to appreciate the amount of talent that we have on the roster (TYJE) even more than we already have. Most teams would die to have even one top guy at these position groups I'm about to lay out, yet we have 2 and sometimes 3 bonafide stars at each position.

Thus, without further ado, here are the top duos on the Denver Broncos in no particular order. Note: I will be using PFF grades and rankings a good bit; but, like any good fan, will deviate from their rankings at times to suit my narrative ;)

Safety - Darian Stewart and TJ Ward

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What a revelation Darian Stewart has been this year! He came in as the 6th ranked safety in PFF's rankings. Even with injuries hampering him a bit, TJ Ward put in a very solid season at 15th overall. Pittsburgh caught us at a good time in week 15 and (injuries to Ben and AB notwithstanding) won't have as easy of a time passing the ball on our secondary with these two patrolling the middle of the field.

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Side note: as I mention in tweet above, there is a lot of secondary talent in the AFC playoffs with Denver, New England, and KC with top 15 safety duos. I'll be keeping tabs on what other teams have top duos in each category just for fun to see just how good Denver's roster is.

Inside Linebacker - Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall

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Remember this off-season when both these guys were coming off injury and there were question marks on whether or not they could adapt as true ILBs in a 3-4 defense? We've come a long way from that as this dynamic duo is reminiscent of Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman in their heyday. I don't have the full rankings from PFF for this group so I can't see how they stack up vs the rest of the league but at 5th (Trev) and 6th (Marshall) overall among ILBS, I can't imagine a better true LB duo besides perhaps Kuechly and Thomas Davis of the Panthers and they run a 4-3 so it's not exactly apples to apples. Here's a pretty cool article from PFF on their success this year.

Cornerback - Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib, Bradley Roby

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Man Chris Harris' contract was and continues to be a heckuva deal for us as he is dominating on the outside and also in the slot (where he logged a league best 44.6 QB rating). Talib had a bit of a down year from an overall grade perspective, but was a playmaking, turnover machine early in the season. Roby makes it up here after his strong finish to the season as he actually beat out Talib in overall rankings as you can see in the graphic below.

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No surprise on Arizona having two top 10 corners, and Buffalo even had 2 as well with Ronald Darby making a strong case for DROY (Marcus Peters gets all the attention but Darby has been much better). But, as you can see, Denver is the only team to have 3 corners ranked so high. This is actually pretty amazing too given the scheme that Wade runs which often leaves his corners on an island to fend for themselves while the front 7 is free to blitz. Score another one for Denver's depth and roster building!

Interior D-line - Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson

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Remember all the people who said moving to 3-4 ends in Phillip's one-gap scheme would be a great fit for these two? Well they were absolutely right. These guys have been monsters in both run defense and pass rush racking up tipped balls, sacks, TFLs, and QB hits all year. Wolfe hit the ground running after his 4-game suspension and Jackson overcame some early season penalty trouble to put in his best year yet as a Bronco. Dare I say, these guys are one the biggest factors in our defense's success this year - it all starts up front.

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Derek Wolfe ended up grading out better than Jackson, and Vance Walker (another totally underrated signing by Elway) even snuck into the top 30. The Rams, Jets, Broncos, and Colts are the only teams with 3 interior defenders in the top 30. Each guy has their unique strengths as Wolfe ended the season with the 6th highest run defense grade while Jackson finished with the 7th best pass rush grade for defensive interior players. Both of these guys are going to get PAID this off season and I don't envy John Elway one bit as he decides who to keep and who to let walk.

Pass Rushers - Von Miller, Demarcus Ware, Shaq Barrett

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How could we talk dynamic duos without talking about our very own Batman and Robin tandem! The Steelers LT summed it up best this week when he said:

Grade wise, Von finished this year as the 4th ranked edge defender just a smidge behind Houston and Olivier Vernon with Mack taking the top spot by several points (in unrelated news, Schofield received a gift basket and a bunch of signed Raiders gear following the week 14 loss). Although Ware was hurt for several games out of the year, he still logged the 13th highest pass rush grade from PFF. Barrett also ended the season with a solid overall grade (78.3) and filled in nicely for Ware while he was hurt. Oh ya, and I didn't even mention our first round pick pass rusher who has played pretty well himself while battling through injuries. I'm starting to see a pattern here among these position groups....

Wide Receiver - Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders

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Here's where I'll deviate from the rankings a bit. Our offensive struggles have been well documented, and both these guys have seen a dip in their numbers this year as a result. But, I don't think anyone would argue that these guys aren't a top 5 WR duo in this league. They have consistently given our troubled QBs stability and playmaking ability to provide a spark when we needed it. For exhibit A, watch the video below. (I couldn't get the video to embed right so I had to just include the link, apologies).

Broncos vs. Patriots Highlights

Honorable Mention - CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman

This is more of a placeholder for when they both tear it up in the playoffs.

Last but not least, let's discuss our dynamic QB duo....... just kidding, I'll quit while I'm ahead ;)

Be sure to vote in the poll and sound off in the comments on who's your favorite dynamic duo!

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.