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Name: Jared Crick
Position: Defensive End
Height: 6'4" Weight: 285
Age: 27 Experience: 6th
College: Nebraska
When Jared Crick came to Denver as a free agent last year, the plan was that he would be a rotational end to provide depth. He also had familiarity with Wade Phillips’ scheme which was a plus.
However, he was forced into more snaps than he has ever seen in his career due to an injury to Vance Walker and Derek Wolfe struggling with injuries.
The result wasn’t very pretty. We’ll get into that more in the weaknesses section, but I think most of Broncos Country agrees that Crick was a huge contributor to our run defense’s struggles last year.
Crick’s cap hit is also one of the highest on the defensive line aside from Derek Wolfe and Domato Peko, and he has minimal dead money if cut this year.
The Good
Crick showed some good things in the pass rush game. He ended the year with six pass deflections, which is something that Kollar emphasizes out of his defensive linemen. He also chipped in three sacks and two forced fumbles.
His best role is being a rotational end primarily on pass rush downs.
The Bad
Broncos former guard, Orlando Franklin, rag-dolling Jared Crick. Denver misses Malik Jackson and Vance Walker. pic.twitter.com/aNv5Fo5ye0
— Jeffrey Essary (@JeffreyEssary) October 19, 2016
I could just leave this tweet here and not write anything for this section because this pretty much sums up Crick last year.
He was absolutely dominated week in and week out in the running game.
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Looking at these Pro Football Focus performance grades leads one to ask why he received so much playing time, but Denver just didn’t have any other options.
Poor roster management and injuries led to Denver being forced to play Jared Crick for 82% of the defensive snaps, more than he has ever played in his career.
Crick was on the field for more defensive snaps than Von Miller last year. Let that sink in for a minute.
He ranked 4th in the league in total snaps played for a defensive end, yet was the 118th ranked defensive end in overall PFF grade.
Ok, I’m done.
Status
I seriously think Crick is on the roster bubble due to salary and the fact that we now have much better depth at defensive end. DeMarcus Walker fills the role of rotational pass rusher, and Zach Kerr and Adam Gotsis will likely take the bulk of the snaps opposite of Derek Wolfe.
Especially if Gotsis has progressed like the OTA buzz suggests, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jared Crick on the outside looking in by the end of preseason.