Von Miller adding weight to help in battle against O-linemen

Good morning, Broncos Country!

Von Miller is back at Dove Valley with the rest of the Broncos (mostly) to begin voluntary OTAs under new head coach Vic Fangio and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

And Miller has big plans for the upcoming season.

BIG plans.

As in 10 pounds bigger.

The svelte edge rusher has decided his optimal weight is closer to 248 rather than the 236-238 he’s carried since the Super Bowl season.

Miller noted that he doesn’t think his previous weight was a bad weight, but he’d like to try bigger.

“It’s not bad, but I want to be 245 or 248. I’m right back at that now. Being 238 last year, I felt like that was a good weight for me. I played in the Super Bowl at 236, so I felt like that was a good weight for me,” Miller said, adding that he experimented with his weight and has been adding it on gradually.

A potential concern would be whether that extra 10 pounds could prevent No. 58 from being as fast off the snap as he has been.

The edge rusher acknowledged that it wouldn’t work for him to just add 10 pounds for the sake of 10 pounds.

“When it comes to technique and skill, you can’t really put 10 pounds on. You have to have it, or you don’t,” he said. “It’s a totally different player from being 245 to 235. It’s a totally different game. I just wanted to get back to 245, and I’ve been doing it that way.”

Miller indicated his reason for getting back to 245 is to give him more strength and power when going up against the offensive linemen (or usually two or three in his case).

“I feel like for me, the difference between 235 and 245 is not really get-off, it’s not really speed, it’s not really getting hurt or getting injured, it’s not really agility or anything like that, or my moves,” he said. “It’s when you get locked up with an offensive lineman and where you’re able to go with that.”

Where Miller would like to go is right through that lineman on the way to the QB.

“[With] 235, you can go a certain direction with that when you’re locked in with an offensive lineman,” he said. “[At] 245, you can go just a little bit further with that. [At] 245 is where I want to be at. It’s still not much. It’s only 10 pounds. It’s not a lot, but I need that 10 pounds.”

On our MHR Live podcast Tuesday night, Jess, Tim and I talked about whether the extra weight could be a concern for Miller’s speed to the quarterback.

I’ll admit that I wonder if the extra weight will affect his “get-off” with the snap, but ultimately, I’m not too worried. It’s Von “QB-wrecker” Miller, and I’m pretty sure if the weight isn’t working for him, his new coach will let him know.

“Coach Fangio, he’s all about technique, assignment, intensity and effort, and I like that,” Miller said. “He’s an outside linebacker guru, and he’s up next with me.”

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