The Denver Broncos continued to invest in the defense in the 2018 NFL Draft by taking the best overall defensive player in this class in edge rusher Bradley Chubb. He should immediately supplant Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett at the starting position opposite Von Miller.
The opening line from Bovada.lv set the over/under for Chubb’s total sack count in 2018 at a paltry 5.5 for the season. I’m not personally a huge betting man, but those look like pretty damn good odds to me.
Case in point might be Von Miller himself. Selected second overall, Miller finished his rookie season opposite Elvis Dumervil and still snagged 11.5 sacks for himself.
How easy is it for edge rushers to rack up sacks in this defense? Just look at Shane Ray in 2015. He didn’t even play that many snaps each game coming in to give DeMarcus Ware a rest at various points in games and still Ray ended up with 4 sacks in his rookie season.
But don’t take my word for it. Chubb has more pass rush moves than most rookies coming out of college. Here are a few examples.
Bradley Chubb's ability to win with variety on inside moves is awesome pic.twitter.com/QiXn4gfP7K
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) September 1, 2017
Ends up being sprint out the other way, but watch Chubb set up the outside swim. Stab inside, swim outside, keep feet moving to clear the hands pic.twitter.com/9XCI5iWAAI
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) December 1, 2017
Chubb (LDE) Bull rush pushes the pocket, then the vision to find the quarterback and exploit the fastest path to him. Inside swim forces the hold by RT pic.twitter.com/ggyF5cXPPa
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) December 1, 2017
Snatch to rip combo. College edge rushers just don’t do this stuff. Chubb is a rare one. pic.twitter.com/rv6AYtiEpt
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) December 2, 2017
If Chubb ends up with less than 5.5 sacks during a full season of work, then we should begin to worry about the highly touted fifth-overall picks long-term NFL future. He shouldn’t just beat that number, he should destroy it.
Especially in this defense.