Displaying maximum power and strength, maintaining balance with someone’s hands on your chest, peeking out precisely as prey enters the daylight, keeping the appropriate angle to seize with velocity — there’s a lot going on when you play defensive tackle.
Malik Jackson makes the physique and the physics make sense. He excels on the NFL’s top-ranked run defense despite owning the build of a pass rusher more than a run stuffer.
“I credit that to my days in college, learning technique and how to defend both,” Jackson said. “I have worked hard to improve. It’s an attitude. You have to take pride in it.”
Winning teams possess players whose statistics require squints. They don’t produce big numbers, but because of them, others do. Jackson, at 6-foot-5, 293 pounds, does dirty work in the interior line along with Derek Wolfe. Jackson owns 19 tackles and two sacks this season. He is the crank bolt that allows other pieces to fit together, helping explain Brandon Marshall’s 75 tackles and the 17 combined sacks from Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.
“He’s always getting better, working hard,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “I talk to him all the time. And I tell him what moves I would be doing if I had his body type. He brings a presence to our defense.”
Knighton is built like a tugboat, a tugboat capable of dunking a basketball flat-footed, but a tugboat nonetheless. Sylvester Williams has a square frame, “a Lego who connects with everybody,” Ware explained with a smirk. Jackson looks like he could run the lane on a fast break. He added bulk this season to suit his job description, and his bigger biceps were noticeable in minicamp. It allows him to take on and shed blockers.
“He wants to know why Malik is unique,” linebacker Miller roared to his defensive teammates. “He’s a great athlete. You don’t see many interior guys who can rush the passer. He does it well. He makes plays. And his work ethic stands out for me.”
Jackson is the classic case of patience paying off. After starting his career at USC and finishing at Tennessee, he arrived at Dove Valley as a fifth-round draft pick, more project than anything else. Jackson played only 14 games in 2012. He started five last season, quietly registering 42 tackles and six sacks.
He is not a starter this season but has become more effective, more versatile. He has played 328-of-650 snaps, grading out consistently well in pass defense, while providing serviceable work against the run.
Two sacks provide just a peek of his damage.
He has 20 hurries and six hits on the quarterback. Last weekend at Oakland he pawed a ball loose on a third-and-8 play, leading to Denver’s second fumble recovery this season. It set up a touchdown.
“He’s really grown in our system, and in what we ask him to do fundamentally,” defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. “He’s matured with his body through the work he’s done in the weight room. And mentally he’s grown up in terms of being more consistent in what he does and how he applies himself. What you want is for players to develop, and that’s exactly what he’s done.”
Troy E. Renck: trenck@denverpost.com or
Unique malik
Malik Jackson helps the Broncos’ defense excel because of his versatility. A peek at his 2014 season by the numbers from the Broncos and Pro Football Focus:
Tackles 19Sacks2Forced fumbles1Quarterback hurries20Quarterback hits6
