Wade Phillips celebrates the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win during a parade in downtown Denver. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)
After taking some time to enjoy the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 victory, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is already in the throes of looking ahead to 2016, evaluating draft prospects and scouting potential free agents.
The Broncos’ 2015 defense may go down as one of the finest in NFL history, but keeping it intact will be no easy feat for general manager John Elway.
On Tuesday, he placed the Broncos’ exclusive franchise tag on linebacker Von Miller. Miller and the Broncos have until 2 p.m. on July 15 to reach a long-term deal, but the tag ensures the Super Bowl 50 MVP won’t leave Denver.
But some of Phillips’ key players — namely defensive end Malik Jackson and inside linebacker Danny Trevathan — could be on their way out when free agency begins March 7.
“We have guys that can play, but those two guys are part of a tremendous defense, really one of the best of all time in the playoffs,” Phillips said . “It’s still hard to replace if we lose them, so hopefully we can get everybody back and have the same kind of defense we had.”
Phillips recently returned from the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, where he was impressed by the talent on the defensive line. Should the Broncos’ lose Jackson as well as veteran Antonio Smith, bolstering the line through the draft may be a necessity.
“Especially inside people were pretty strong,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of inside backers, a lot of safeties. But we just have to evaluate anybody to see who can help us.
“Actually there are some pretty good-sized defensive linemen who can run pretty well this year. Year in and year out there’s not always that group. But there a lot of 300-pounders that run 5-flats (40-yard dashes). I haven’t evaluated them on film because we’ve been busy until now. But looking over all the defensive players to see what they look like is going to be interesting.”
The film offers the biggest clues to Phillips. While the drills can shed light on a player’s physical skill and potential growth, his decisions in-game show the most.
“It all comes down to how they play, how productive they are and whether they can do that at the next level,” Phillips said. “That’s always tough to evaluate the next step. But certain guys you look for certain things. And then the other thing, too, you look for is what kind of instinct they have, how well they find the football. I think that’s really important on defense, and some people don’t put much on that. … How quickly they react and how quickly they find the football are really two important things on defense.”
Phillips said he also went back and studied the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 victory Tuesday, watching the game play by play and player by player.
“It was really great to watch to see how many guys played probably their best game. That was the key. Most of the defensive linemen played really well. DeMarcus (Ware) had a tremendous game, besides Von obviously. Probably his best game. Inside backers, same thing, they played really well. The corners and safeties — everybody just played probably close to their best game, and that made a big difference.”
The Broncos met with the agent of Ware, as well as offensive tackle Ryan Clady, at the combine last week. Ware has one year with a $7 million salary and $3 million roster bonus for next season, and given the team’s long list of free agents, restructuring his deal seems plausible.
Since Ware arrived in 2014, he’s become a locker-room leader, helping Miller reach peak form and playing a key role in the development of younger linebackers Shaquil Barrett and Shane Ray, as well.
“That, and he gets to the quarterback,” Phillips said. “He played a great game. He was there to recover the fumble for the touchdown. Actually, Malik kind of took it away from him. He almost had a touchdown, he had two sacks, he played the running game tremendously well and he had a lot of hits on the quarterback.”
