Ex-NFL HC Makes Bold Claim on Broncos DC Vance Joseph
During his time as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, Vance Joseph was vilified by fans as his teams often appeared undisciplined and unprepared. There was little question that he was out of his element as a head coach, floundering under the pressure of taking over a team that had won a Super Bowl championship just two years prior to his hiring.
Fast forward to 2023, and Joseph has returned to the Broncos as their new defensive coordinator under head coach Sean Payton, and expectations are seemingly mixed in terms of how the defense will perform as it transitions to a scheme that is foreign to many on the roster.
Over the past few seasons, Denver's defense has typically deployed a two-high safety shell, opting for Cover 2 and Cover 4 looks that allow for a lot of zone coverages that keep receivers in front of the defenders, allowing for easy receptions but few yards after the catch. The Broncos brought more pressure on the quarterback under last year's coordinator Ejiro Evero than with Vic Fangio, but the overarching theme of the scheme was to bend and not break.
Joseph has a very different philosophy than in years past, and former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano wrote a detailed explanation of what exactly that philosophy is for The 33rd Team on Monday.
"Joseph wants to be aggressive, but there are a lot of other things we can expect from his defense," Pagano said. "He’s a base 3-4 guy and a big single-high safety user on normal down and distances. There will be some form of 3D configuration, and he’s going to drop an extra defender or one of the safeties down into the box, into the run, and then play either Cover 1 or Cover 3 defense."
The big difference in this scheme from what the Broncos have run in the past is what is required from the safety position, where you need players that have enough athleticism and range to be able to play sideline to sideline throughout the third level of the defense as well as fill the box as a run defender. Fortunately for Denver, they already possess one of the best safeties in the game in Justin Simmons, who also has experience playing in this scheme under Joseph early in his career.
The Broncos also have an up-and-coming player in Caden Sterns, who is a freak of an athlete and a sure tackler when running the alley as a run defender. Finding fits on the back end of the defense should be relatively easy with these guys on the roster.
Another big difference between the Joseph and Fangio schemes is the amount of pressure on the quarterback that comes from the second level, which Pagano broke down in his dissertation.
"(Joseph) loves to put a bunch of players at the line of scrimmage," Pagano wrote. "He loves this double mug, double-A gap blitz look where you have four down (defensive linemen) with both linebackers mugged up in A-gaps. He learned this during his time in Cincinnati.
"You can play man coverage behind that, and you can play some fire zone coverage, some two-deep fire zone (two deep safeties and two cornerbacks with a couple of players dropping out based on whether you bring four strong or four weak based on protection calls from the offense)."
What makes this aspect of the Joseph defense interesting is the addition of rookie linebacker Drew Sanders to the roster. Sanders has the potential to become an elite blitzer in the A-gap, as that was one of the primary tasks asked of him in his time at Arkansas.
Pairing Sanders with veteran Josey Jewell, another player that excels scraping through the trash as a blitzing pass rusher, could return major dividends for the Broncos. Sanders collected nine and a half sacks for the Razorbacks last season, so this is a natural fit for what Joseph wants to run.
The problem with bringing extra rushers on defense is it places a ton of pressure on the coverage scheme, especially in one-on-one coverage on the outside. However, that shouldn't be a problem for the Broncos, according to Pagano.
"The Broncos have one of the best young corners in the NFL in Patrick Surtain II, and he’ll be available to travel with the opponent’s best wide receiver," Pagano wrote. "We’re going to get some great matchups in the AFC West when the Broncos play the Las Vegas Raiders. We’ll see a bunch of Davante Adams and Surtain going at each other one-on-one."
Adding to Surtain, the Broncos have second-year cornerback Damarri Mathis as a rising player in the secondary. In college, Mathis thrived as a man-to-man defender playing in press coverage. While he struggled early on as a rookie, he showed incredible development down the stretch of last season and appears poised to take a step forward as the full-time starter across from Surtain.
The pieces are in place for the Broncos to have another high-quality defense in 2023. They have players who fit this new scheme in the secondary, a few rangy linebackers that can bring the pressure from the second level, and a veteran with experience in the system as a pass rusher in Zach Allen to help guide the way.
And if you ask Pagano, there should be a lot of optimism and excitement about Joseph and this group going forward.
"The 2023 Broncos' defense will try to dictate the tempo of the game and won’t sit back. They want to be the ones who will show pressure and get out of it to play coverage and vice versa.
"It’s going to be exciting to watch Denver play defense this fall."
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