Broncos roster review: Inside linebacker Josey Jewell

Josey Jewell chose to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes, he played all four years with the Hawkeyes. In Jewell’s career with the Hawkeyes, he had an impressive 437 tackles, 10 sacks, six interceptions, and three forced fumbles. In 2017 Jewell had his best season; at Iowa, he had 136 tackles, four-and-a-half sacks, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble, and two interceptions. Jewell also in 2017 won Big 10 defensive player of the year, the Jack Lambert Award, an award given to the best linebacker, and was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski trophy, an award given to the best defensive player.

#47 Josey Jewell
6’2 236 Ibs.
College: Iowa

Jewell was picked in the 4th round (106th overall) by the Denver Broncos in the 2018 NFL Draft. After starting out as a backup for the Broncos Jewell has molded himself into a leader for the Broncos defense. Jewell has improved since joining the NFL, in 2018 he had 58 tackles and no sacks; in 2020 he had 113 tackles and two sacks. Jewell then went on to sign a two-year extension worth $11 million.

Coming into the 2021 season Jewell was looking excellent and had a fantastic start to the season but then Tore his Pec after two games. Despite having a great start to a season ruined early general manager George Paton had high praise for Jewell,

How Jewell fits with the Broncos

Jewell has a lot of positives when on the field, he can read a play well and shoot toward to ball quickly, he is a huge film junkie, he is very disciplined, his technique and patience helps him with avoiding missed tackles, he has a good burst to the ball and can close out runners, and he can read the quarterback very well and drop back into coverage when needed.

On the other hand, though, Jewell is not the fastest and doesn't have the best size, his athleticism, and change of direction is only average, and he can get lost looking for the football behind defensive lines, he can get overpowered at times and stuck on blocks.

Final thoughts

Obviously, Jewell is going to be our guy moving forward. There is also a chance we do see him have a slow start to the season just because he had missed many games during the 2021 season, but I think Jewell is primed for one of if not his best season coming into the 2022 NFL season.

If the worst-case scenario were to happen I believe the Broncos’ depth at inside linebacker is good enough to step in Jonas Griffith has been an absolute steal for the Broncos and Alex Singleton was a leader on the Eagles defense last year.

Overall though I believe that Jewell is primed to have an amazing year for the Broncos and I am very excited to see how he bounces back from his torn pec.