Six months ago, the question was whether the Broncos’ defensive line would have enough players to fill a starting lineup.
On the eve of the season, the question is whether any players other than former Cleveland Browns will play on the line.
No unit this offseason has had more of a major reconstruction than the Broncos’ defensive line.
The changes were intended to help the team’s anemic pass rush, the biggest problem on the defense.
“It all starts up front,” Denver coach Mike Shanahan said. “That’s why we’ve changed so much there.”
The Broncos will start the season with holdover Trevor Pryce at left end, Courtney Brown at right end and Gerard Warren and Michael Myers at the tackle spots. Brown, Warren and Myers are imports from Cleveland.
While those four will start, the line will be heavily based on a rotation. Ends Ebenezer Ekuban (who also came from Cleveland), John Engelberger and Marco Coleman and tackle Monsanto Pope (who started last year) also will play in the rotation.
“This is the best overall group I’ve been part of,” said Ekuban, who came to Denver with Myers in a trade for tailback Reuben Droughns. “There is talent up and down the rotation.”
But there still are questions. Pryce missed virtually all of last season with a back injury that required surgery. Denver, which toyed with trading him, has brought back the 30-year-old and made him the primary pass rusher. Still, Pryce will have to show he can regain the form that made him a four-time Pro Bowl player.
Brown, who missed most of the preseason with a dislocated elbow, has missed 33 games in his 80-game NFL career, prompting questions about his ability to stay healthy.
Warren needs to show he can be the player who was the No. 3 overall pick in 2001 instead of the player who had a reputation for being lazy with the Browns. Warren has been energetic and a playmaker in practice. Shanahan even predicted Warren will make the Pro Bowl this season.
Whatever happens, Denver needs a better pass rush than last season when it registered only 38 sacks. The Broncos’ top pass rusher in 2004, end Reggie Hayward who had 10 1/2 sacks, departed to Jacksonville via free agency.
“We have some work to do and some improving to do,” Pryce said. “I like what I see, but we haven’t done anything yet. The potential is there, but we still have to go do it.”
