Welcome back to the training camp Q&A — which soon enough will be the regular-season Q&A. Today’s question comes from Scott S. in Winter Park:
Q: Wesley Woodyard is a tackling machine. Each time he is on the field he makes a difference. They say that he is a “tweener” — too small for a linebacker, too big for a strong safety. Yet, he is being inserted to play inside linebacker versus outside. Why aren’t the Broncos giving him a chance to use his speed and compete with Robert Ayers on the outside opposite of Elvis Dumervil, instead of forcing him to be an undersized inside linebacker? It seems that the outside would be better for him, and they could use the depth on a very thin group of outside linebackers.
A: Scott, this is what Broncos coach Josh McDaniels had to say after Wednesday’s morning practice about Woodyard:
” ‘Wood’ is experienced in our system; he’s a little bigger than he’s been. Definitely a physical player, has great speed has played a lot in our nickel (five defensive backs) and dime (six DBs) packages … he’s really shown the ability to play in there. He deserves what he’s getting right now. … A great example for a lot of the younger players, not highly touted in terms of where he was drafted, but he’s worked his way into a great role for our football team.”
So, in short, McDaniels agrees with your assessment about Woodyard making a difference when he’s on the field.
The Broncos put him inside — he has been working in D.J. Williams’ weak-side spot — largely because the inside linebackers are smaller in a 3-4 than the outside guys. The outside guys are hybrid defensive ends for the most part, having to line up in three-point stances from time to time, so they play in the 270-pound range, much heavier than Woodyard.
The outside guys have to routinely engage offensive tackles, players with quick feet and big reaches. So, the matchups for players like Woodyard are better on the inside in this scheme because he can engage blockers on the move and beat them to the spot.
The inside guys can be 230 to 240 pounds or so. Woodyard is listed at 222 pounds this year, which is the same weight he was listed at last season, but McDaniels has said he’s a little bigger.
With his speed, he also fits the need of a good pursuit player in that weak-side spot on the inside. They also do line him up in a spot a safety would likely play in the team’s dime (six defensive backs) package.
Put that with all of his special teams work and Woodyard is the kind of versatile player McDaniels has repeatedly said he wants on defense. Wednesday morning, when Williams was held out of practice for an undisclosed injury, Woodyard took snaps with the starting defense, played plenty of snaps with the No. 2 defense, played in the dime and did plenty of work on special teams.
That’s a full day of football labor in just one of the team’s two practices. He’ll see plenty of playing time this year, at least if what the Broncos have done thus far in camp holds true once the games that count begin.
Woodyard also gives the Broncos a chance to use his speed while also beefing up some of their specialty packages on defense, a concern since plenty of teams ran the ball effectively against then when they went to the nickel or dime.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
