Film Room: How Broncos' DL DeMarcus Walker Is Making Past Critics Eat Crow

The Denver Broncos suffered a heartbreaking loss, at home, for the second time in three games in Week 4. The Broncos led for the entire first half and got a late lead, only to lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars on a last-second field goal.

It was gut-wrenching to lose a second game in that same fashion.

This was a game where the Broncos' defense really failed to step up. There were a few players that did, and they also managed to get themselves a few sacks. One of the better-looking players was third-year defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker.

While Walker only played 35% of the snaps, he made multiple big plays for the Broncos. Unfortunately, so many others failed to capitalize on the positive plays and as a unit, just compounded mistakes.

It was nice to see Walker really step up in a meaningful game and make plays for himself. It's all finally started to click for the defensive lineman this year, and it is showing on the field.

Denver needs him to step up with the potential to lose their three starting defensive linemen to free agency in 2020. Going over Walker's Week 4 performance, there were three plays that stood out from Walker that are worth breaking down.

Let's take a look.

Play 1: 12:59 | Second Quarter

Situation: 1-&-10

This first play is a great one to highlight for Walker, because when he stepped in vs. the Green Bay Packers, he was a liability against the run. In fact, during his career, he has been a liability against the run, which is a big reason he wasn’t playing much. On this play, however, he comes up big in defense of the run.

Walker is lined up as the 3-tech for the Broncos matched up with the right guard. The Jaguars are selling run to the left, as they are heavy on that side of the formation, and the Broncos adjust their linebackers to match just this. Walker and Von Miller have the backside duties to shut down any cut back lanes for the running back.

On the snap, the right guard crashing inside, trying to take out the inside shoulder of Walker and hold him up for the RB to get to the line of scrimmage. Walker does a wonderful job twisting the upper body, and guiding the guard by him.

This gives him a free shot at the RB in the backfield. The RB makes a cut left, and Walker dives to make the tackle limiting the gain to only one yard.

The Broncos season is hanging by a thread! Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Play 2: 10:27 | Third Quarter

Situation: 2nd-&-10

This is probably my favorite play to date of Walker's. Yes, it results in a sack, but it is what he does to get there that is something we haven’t really seen from him before this year. Walker showed just how much growth he has had since last year on this play.

Denver is in a sub-package with Walker again as the 3-tech on the right guard. It is a second-and-long situation, so it could be either a run or a pass, and the Jaguars' formation doesn’t give any hints as to what it could be.

On the snap, the Jaguars run a play-action, which pauses the pass rushers for a moment. Walker is patient and instead of jumping for the pass, or for the play-action he waits just enough time. He reads the play, sees that it is a play-action and makes his move.

You see off the snap, Walker gets good hand positioning and leverage on the right guard. So when he does see that it is a passing play, he is easily able to toss the guard to the side. Once that is done, he is free to sack the quarterback.

Play 3: 12:08 | Fourth Quarter

Situation: 3rd-&-16

Even though Malik Reed got the sack on this play, Walker actually played this really well. Walker played a big part in this resulting in a sack, and it was against Andrew Norwell, one of the best guards in the NFL.

Once again Denver is in a sub-package but with Walker as the 4-tech. It is a third-and-long situation, which means it is an obvious passing down. Denver has to get off the field here especially after their struggles in the second half up until this point.

Walker gets the outside shoulder of Norwell quickly, as he pushes upfield. He has his arm extended, which helps with tossing off offensive lineman. Reed forces Gardner Minshew to climb up in the pocket, and Walker reads this.

With his positioning, Walker goes to shed the block and crash the middle, where Minshew is climbing to. With his change of direction, Norwell does restrict his movement, which could be called for a ticky-tack holding penalty that would have just been declined.

Even so, Walker, with the help of other defenders, closes the lane that Minshew was climbing into. This allows Reed to come up, change direction twice, and make the sack. This gets Denver off the field, which was much needed for this defense.

The Takeaway

Walker has already made me eat crow, and it tastes delicious. Hopefully, he can keep the development going and continue to make me eat even more blackbird.

This is a good step forward for Walker, which was needed, but can he do it consistently? Consistency is all that needs to be seen from him now.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.

Add us as a preferred source on Google