Today’s question about the Broncos comes from Ian Nicol:
Q: It seems that “uber-ends” — huge, pass-catching tight ends — are sprouting up all over the league. When are we going to see defenses developing bigger cornerbacks or cover linebackers to counter this trend?
A: Ian, you have touched on a trend most defensive coordinators in the league have been rubbing their temples about in recent seasons. You don’t have to look beyond the Patriots’ win over the Broncos on Saturday night or the 49ers’ win over the Saints earlier that day to find great examples.
In two meetings this season, the Patriots tormented the Broncos’ defense with their tight ends. In the December meeting, it was Aaron Hernandez with a 100-yard receiving game. Saturday night, Hernandez was the team’s leading rusher out of the backfield, while Rob Gronkowski had a 100-yard receiving game to go with three touchdowns.
Just before the Broncos and Patriots kicked off, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and Saints tight end Jimmy Graham made huge plays in the NFC divisional game.
The simple fact is cornerbacks aren’t getting bigger, while the receivers seem to be.
Former Chiefs and Jets head coach Herm Edwards, a former defensive back himself, has consistently said cornerbacks are roughly the same size as when he was playing, perhaps even smaller in some cases, while receivers are getting bigger.
Offensive football has evolved into a throw-first affair at almost every level. So, for the most part, the best athletes are moved to offense as soon as they start playing football.
In general, the bigger offensive players at the skill positions are usually faster than the defenders of comparable size.
Cornerbacks, as a group, always sport some of the fastest players at the NFL scouting combine, but often the receivers, who run times that are similar, are taller and heavier.
That is a matchup problem that only escalates when it involves athletes like Gronkowski, Hernandez, Davis and Graham. Now you have fast players with tremendous ball skills when the pass is in the air, who can overpower defenders in traffic as well because they weigh from 245-270 pounds.
Toss in the fact the league has tipped the rule book all the way toward offenses, especially in terms of how much contact is allowed with a receiver by a defender, and you have a difficult situation for the defenses.
That is especially true since most offenses, at least the ones with the top quarterbacks running the show, are playing out of the shotgun with three and four receivers in the formation much of the time.
Defenses have to go small at that point, often with five or six defensive backs. The fifth and sixth defensive backs will usually be cornerbacks, who are a little smaller than the starters, as well as safeties, who are a little smaller or slower than the starters.
A quarterback with the ability to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball is usually going to find the most favorable matchup with one of those tight ends on what is essentially a backup defensive back.
That was the case when the Broncos had Chris Harris, an undersized, undrafted rookie, often trying to check Gronkowski on Saturday night. Gronkowski set an NFL record for touchdowns (20) in a season by a tight end.
And when the Broncos tried using a linebacker in coverage, Gronkowski simply ran by him.
The solution may be, much like NFL teams have often converted college cornerbacks to safety in the past to get more athleticism at the position, some may now take the bigger college safeties and make them situational linebackers.
Broncos coach John Fox did that during his time in Carolina, selecting Georgia safety Thomas Davis in the first round and making him a linebacker.
It will make defensive line play even a bigger premium, because any defense playing smaller, quicker players at linebacker and defensive back will need to find a way to stand its ground in the run game. And putting the quarterbacks on the ground will always be the best way to keep the ball out of the receivers’ hands.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
