What Broncos Fans Should Expect From Von Miller's Comeback
Last season, there was a lot of excitement around Von Miller and Bradley Chubb combining once again to get after quarterbacks. That hope ended with a late-training camp injury to Miller which left the Denver Broncos reeling.
Missing the entire 2020 campaign clouded his future with the Broncos but GM George Paton, after vacillating for a time, ultimately exercised the eight-time Pro Bowler's 2021 contract.
Now, as the Broncos prepare for the 2021 season, Miller should be back to 100% and ready to go make an impact, but he is a year older and will have been away from football for nearly a year by the time training camp starts.
So what exactly can fans expect after he missed last season?
Looking at 2019, which was viewed as a down year for Miller, he actually had a solid season without Chubb, who missed 12 games with an ACL tear. Miller notched 77 total pressures, nine of which were sacks, and 27 total stops.
That production, among edge rushers with at least 450 pass-rush snaps, as was the seventh-most, and tied 15th-most while he tallied the 28th-most stops among edges with at least 600 total snaps.
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As the main pass rusher and the only one with consistency, those are solid numbers from Miller. However, that includes guys younger than Miller so let's look at how that compares to rushers closer to his age. Narrowing it down to edge rushers drafted in 2011 or earlier.
Miller's 77 total pressures ranked second and his nine sacks was tied for sixth. If he was able to replicate that in 2020, those tallies would've been the most among this age group for total pressures and tied for second in sacks.
That isn't predictive of what's going to come in 2021 coming back from injury but it could be a harbinger of what's to come. We also have to factor in that 17th game after the increase to the schedule.
Cam Jordan led that group of older edge rushers with 57 total pressures in 2020. So putting on a projection hat, Miller picking up at least 63 total pressures with another nine-sack season would be reasonable for his age-32 season.
Yes, Miller is coming back from injury but it was sustained before the season even started. He is six years older now than he was in 2014 when he came back from an ACL injury suffered much later in the 2013 season, but he still put up 74 total pressures and 15 sacks the next campaign.
There is still gas left in Miller's tank and Denver should be able to get one more year of high production out of him while still seeing the signs of slowing down.
"I felt like last season was going to be the season, but I feel like this season is going to be a great season, too," Miller said earlier this week to kick off OTAs. "Just refocus with that same fire and that same intensity and just grind it out. I’m still running around here beating everybody’s ass, so I feel like, 30-what? Until I see otherwise, I’m going to keep doing it and I’m going to keep going.”
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