Know what the Broncos need? I mean, really need.
Another Pot Roast.
Check that. A Pot Roast who can run. Auburn defensive tackle Angelo Blackson has the measurables to be a nice nose tackle in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense.
Blackson is 6-foot-4, 318 pounds — lighter than Terrance “Pot Roast Knighton by 20 pounds or so. And the mocksters aren’t giving Blackson any love as he’s mostly projected as final round-to-premium undrafted free agent.
But at his Pro Day, Blackson had 40-yard times of 4.99 and 5.01 seconds. Eye-popping speed considering quarterback Jameis Winston ran a 4.97 at the NFL scouting combine. It opened the Broncos’ eyes enough to bring Blackson into Dove Valley for a visit this week.
Phillips, the Broncos’ new (and former) defensive coordinator, wants more speed on his defense. More speed up front. Phillips knows how altitude negatively affects the visitors — especially for those big heavies.
Blackson was only a part-time starter at Auburn, but he had 3.0 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss last year as a senior so he has some athleticism. He may be a late-bloomer type whose body can take on more weight.
The Broncos currently have Marvin Austin and Sylvester Williams as their interior defensive tackles in the 3-4, but neither is a true, play-over-the-center nose-type. Blackson is a little bigger and just as fast as Williams, who ran a 5.03 in the 40 at the NFL combine two years ago.
