If this guy.....

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Turns into something, watch out NFL. The Broncos should have a monster pass rush....


Quanterus Smith should be a nice bonus in pass rush - ESPN

 

[TDs3nOut]

Definitely looking forward to seeing what Smith has. Our pass rush could be very formidable this year. Miller, Ware, and hopefully Smith in the rotation on the outside, combined with Knighton, Williams, Wolfe, Vickerson, and Jackson inside could really be a force. Hopefully all of those guys work hard and we are lucky enough to avoid injuries.

 

[MrDoc420]

I hope Jackson can build off the success he started seeing towards the end of last year. He had a couple games where he was a total menace. Pumped about Smith too. So happy for the guy that he's 100% and will definitely get a chance to show what he's got. The fact they get to learn from a good group of vets is a great thing too. Very promising stuff

 

[randymon]

Not just Smith and Malik, but also McCray,Q.Carter.Moore,Austin,Justice to name a few,and all the rookies. Going to be exciting times for Broncos fans to hear/read how these guys do coming back from injuries,etc during training camp and then to actually watch them in pre-season. Can't wait.

 

[Morpheus]

With the defensive scheme Del Rio is using, these guys will be able to rotate in and out to stay fresh and if someone is injured, any d-lineman can step in and fill that position almost.

This is huge. Obviously you will see guys like Knighton playing the interior more, but DE, DT will be pretty much interchangeable.

Our Defensive front has the potential to be pretty formidable.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Sticking with the "if this guy ... " theme, here's a piece on Sly Williams: As Good As Knighton Is, Sylvester Williams Could Be Better - Predominantly Orange - A Denver Broncos Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

 

[BigKen]

The Broncos had a pretty good defense last year and the additions they've made don't appear to diminish it this year. Like I've said to Patriot, Jet, Bills fans............there is a limited number of spaces on any team for bodies. Typically, most NFL teams limit DL and OL bodies to a max of 7. We all get excited about the young studs, but it's the proven, battle tested vets that the coaches know they can depend on who are given first opportunity to play their way off the roster.

Bill Belichick has made a living being a cadaver picker. When teams fall in love with a rookie and cut a veteran, the veteran is generally willing to sign a cheap contract to prove his former team wrong. You know he's watching the Broncos very closely to see who falls out of favor. The Pats have 5 guys coming back from bad to very serious injuries and a proven veteran stud could send more than one to the scrap pile.

 

[TDs3nOut]

The Broncos had a pretty good defense last year and the additions they've made don't appear to diminish it this year. Like I've said to Patriot, Jet, Bills fans............there is a limited number of spaces on any team for bodies. Typically, most NFL teams limit DL and OL bodies to a max of 7. We all get excited about the young studs, but it's the proven, battle tested vets that the coaches know they can depend on who are given first opportunity to play their way off the roster.

Bill Belichick has made a living being a cadaver picker. When teams fall in love with a rookie and cut a veteran, the veteran is generally willing to sign a cheap contract to prove his former team wrong. You know he's watching the Broncos very closely to see who falls out of favor. The Pats have 5 guys coming back from bad to very serious injuries and a proven veteran stud could send more than one to the scrap pile.

Thanks for the word of caution, but I think that the thread title -- "If this guy ... " -- pretty clearly implies that Broncos fans aren't quite ready to crown Quanterus Smith the new Bruce Smith. Rather, some of us are hopeful that he can make the team and hopefully contribute in the pass rush.

 

[cdumler7]

The Broncos had a pretty good defense last year and the additions they've made don't appear to diminish it this year. Like I've said to Patriot, Jet, Bills fans............there is a limited number of spaces on any team for bodies. Typically, most NFL teams limit DL and OL bodies to a max of 7. We all get excited about the young studs, but it's the proven, battle tested vets that the coaches know they can depend on who are given first opportunity to play their way off the roster.

Bill Belichick has made a living being a cadaver picker. When teams fall in love with a rookie and cut a veteran, the veteran is generally willing to sign a cheap contract to prove his former team wrong. You know he's watching the Broncos very closely to see who falls out of favor. The Pats have 5 guys coming back from bad to very serious injuries and a proven veteran stud could send more than one to the scrap pile.

The Broncos actually keep 8 DL players. Last year they had Phillips, Ayers, Knighton, Jackson, Williams, Unrein, Vickerson, and Wolfe. Throw in at that time last year when these 8 were announced they also expected Miller to play quite a bit of DE for the team.

Looking at what the Broncos like to do with the DL of having a heavy rotation I expect that they once again will keep that many. Throw in it is probably the position the Broncos are deepest at other than TE and WR. So them keeping a guy like Quanterus Smith on the roster is not that big of a deal at this point. Elway has shown that he will hold on to a draft pick sometimes longer than he even should as he would rather see players develop than keep an aging veteran. At this point the Broncos don't really have any aging veterans for the DL that are possibly going to be cut to keep Smith on the roster. As deep as the position is unless there is an injury most of the spots are a foregone conclusion of who is going to make the team.

Right now we know Ware, Knighton, Williams, Wolfe, Jackson, and Smith will make the team. The team is very high on all of those players and all of them will get a ton of snaps this season. After that there is some question for the 3rd and 4th DT position as it will be between Vickerson, Unrein, and Austin. My guess right now is actually Vickerson and Austin make the roster. So that takes us to our 8 DL players. So there might be one half way decent veteran cut in either Unrein or Austin but it is not like they will light up the world on another organization. The Broncos have a very DL friendly defensive scheme so I don't see them going crazy somewhere else. This then gives us a nice mix of veterans in Ware and Knighton while also giving us some young proven and unproven talent in the rest of the group. We will then have 6 DL of the 8 that have starting experience and only one that has graded out as average when given the starting chance.

Also not sure why you decided to use the word "diminish" when it comes to our defense. You are right our new additions do not diminish our defense but more than likely make it better. We are talking about guys that have finished as 2nd team or 1st team all-pros either in the last year or three. Throw in the return of guys like Wolfe, Miller, Moore, and Harris. So that means 7 starters on the defense will be brand new compared to last season almost for sure.

 

[randymon]

The Broncos actually keep 8 DL players. Last year they had Phillips, Ayers, Knighton, Jackson, Williams, Unrein, Vickerson, and Wolfe. Throw in at that time last year when these 8 were announced they also expected Miller to play quite a bit of DE for the team.

Looking at what the Broncos like to do with the DL of having a heavy rotation I expect that they once again will keep that many. Throw in it is probably the position the Broncos are deepest at other than TE and WR. So them keeping a guy like Quanterus Smith on the roster is not that big of a deal at this point. Elway has shown that he will hold on to a draft pick sometimes longer than he even should as he would rather see players develop than keep an aging veteran. At this point the Broncos don't really have any aging veterans for the DL that are possibly going to be cut to keep Smith on the roster. As deep as the position is unless there is an injury most of the spots are a foregone conclusion of who is going to make the team.

Right now we know Ware, Knighton, Williams, Wolfe, Jackson, and Smith will make the team. The team is very high on all of those players and all of them will get a ton of snaps this season. After that there is some question for the 3rd and 4th DT position as it will be between Vickerson, Unrein, and Austin. My guess right now is actually Vickerson and Austin make the roster. So that takes us to our 8 DL players. So there might be one half way decent veteran cut in either Unrein or Austin but it is not like they will light up the world on another organization. The Broncos have a very DL friendly defensive scheme so I don't see them going crazy somewhere else. This then gives us a nice mix of veterans in Ware and Knighton while also giving us some young proven and unproven talent in the rest of the group. We will then have 6 DL of the 8 that have starting experience and only one that has graded out as average when given the starting chance.

Also not sure why you decided to use the word "diminish" when it comes to our defense. You are right our new additions do not diminish our defense but more than likely make it better. We are talking about guys that have finished as 2nd team or 1st team all-pros either in the last year or three. Throw in the return of guys like Wolfe, Miller, Moore, and Harris. So that means 7 starters on the defense will be brand new compared to last season almost for sure.

From what I've been hearing is Vick could be odd man out mostly due to cap casualty to free up signings for 2015. Unless he really brings it in camp and pre-season or somebody gets hurt, he would make most sense to release for cap space without losing too much in depth,if any.