Breaking Down What Newly-Signed DL Shamar Stephen Brings to Broncos
Denver Broncos' GM George Paton continues to turn over the roster, the most recent acquisition of which was a known quantity in recently-released ex-Minnesota Viking Shamar Stephen. Vic Fangio has often gone to the NFC North for talent and the Broncos have continued to go to that well.
Aged 30, and heading into his eighth NFL season, the 6-foot-5, 309-pound defensive tackle was a former seventh-round draft pick out of Connecticut in 2014. Stephen has started 31 games in six seasons with the Vikings over two stints, sandwiched with a year in Seattle in 2018, where he started 14 games.
In 2019, Stephen signed a three-year, $12.45 million contract, with $4.9M guaranteed to rejoin the Vikings, but did not live up to the contract and was released after the Vikings signed former Alabama tackle Dalvin Tomlinson.
Where Stephen makes sense for the Broncos is in his ability to fill the gaps, stay on his feet, and do the dirty work in the middle of the line by maintaining gap integrity. However, he doesn’t win as a pass rusher, and doesn’t generate much in the way of push.
Stephen played the 3-technique in Minnesota, and in 2020, was double-teamed around the league average but still produced a very low pass-rush win rate of around 1.5%. On the season, he ranked No. 52 in pass-rush productivity among 53 starting defensive tackles according to Pro Football Focus: only his Vikings teammate Jaleel Johnson ranked lower.
Stephen has a career total of 4.5 sacks in seven seasons. Granted, offseason addition Michael Pierce choosing to opt-out of 2020 season did not help Stephen, but he did not do particularly well in his time as a starter. Concerningly, Stephen regressed against the run in 2020 and ranked poorly in run-stop efficiency per PFF.
If the best ability is availability, Stephen has started 31-of-32 possible games over the previous two seasons since re-joining with the Vikings, with 55 tackles, four tackles for a loss, five QB hits, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and three passes defensed. He isn’t used often on obvious passing downs but in 2020, Stephen played in a career-high 662 snaps, good for 62% of the team’s total defensive snaps per Pro Football Reference, with 321 run-defense snaps and 341 pass-rush snaps per PFF.
Stephen also compiled 34 combined tackles, 20 solo, a half-sack, two TFLs and three QB hits in 2020. He had finished 2020 with a PFF grade of 61.7, with a run defense grade of 59.7 and a pass rush grade of 56.7.
There is hope of a resurgence with a change of scenery, as Stephen won’t be required to be a starter in the Mile High City unless injury makes it necessary. He started all 16 games in 2016 for the first time, with a bump in playing time after a severe injury to Sharrif Floyd. Stephen's best year by PFF grade came in 2017 as part of a rotation, with an overall grade of 68.6 and a run defense grade of 70.7 on 384 snaps.
Some fans in Broncos Country may point to the continued availability of DeMarcus Walker, who is expected to sign in Houston and offers more as a pass rusher, but the Broncos do have high hopes for former third-round picks Dre’Mont Jones and McTelvin Agim, both of whom figure to get more snaps heading into 2021. DeShawn Williams has been nothing short of a revelation in his time in the Orange and Blue, so far as well.
Free agency is all about shoring up needs as the team approaches the NFL draft and getting bodies in the building for training camp. It remains to be seen whether this is a competition at nose or defensive end, but Fangio places a premium on versatility.
This isn’t a move that will move the needle much, and Stephen’s time with the Broncos may end up being short, but the draft's interior defensive line class does not figure to be a strength and is particularly thin at the top. This isn’t a move that would preclude the Broncos from drafting an interior defender should the value be right, but the team does have a lot of options at this point in time.
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