Getting your player ready...
When the Broncos hired Mike Nolan to be their defensive coordinator — a position of rapid turnover in recent seasons — they were hoping he could help produce more takeaways.
The Broncos had a league-low 13 takeaways last season, four fewer than 31st-ranked Jacksonville. The 0-16 Detroit Lions had 20.
But in Nolan’s 11 years as a defensive coordinator, excluding the last four seasons as San Francisco’s head coach, his defenses averaged 32.3 takeaways per season. They were ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in seven seasons, including each of Nolan’s five most recent seasons as a defensive chief.
