Here's why Interior D-Line is Broncos' Most Under-Appreciated Roster Need in 2020

The 2019 Denver Broncos are going to finish below .500 for the third straight season. Despite how that looks on the surface, this team does appear to be trending in the right direction with a first-year coaching staff, a young core emerging, an intriguing young quarterback with moxie and tools, and the means to improve this team over the offseason to become legit playoff contenders come 2020.

However, if this team is to return to relevance, the Broncos absolutely have to attack issues on the roster on the offensive line, the wide receiver corps behind Courtland Sutton, and at cornerback with Chris Harris, Jr. poised to head out the door and a massive heaping of unknowns behind him.

Offensive line, wide receiver, and cornerback all seem to be the obvious ‘needs’ for the Broncos as the offseason approaches, but there is another aspect of this team that GM John Elway and the personnel department must look to improve in order for Denver to continue their current trajectory — the interior defensive line.

The Broncos are absolutely beaten up along the defensive front. With the likes of Derek Wolfe landing on the injured reserve list following Week 13, Adam Gotsis going down for the season following a knee procedure, and both Dre’Mont Jones and DeMarcus Walker battling ankle injuries, the Broncos big boys on the defensive line are completely decimated.

Fortunately for the Broncos, defensive lineman Shelby Harris has been playing well since the bye week, and the team has found a body to play nose tackle in Mike Purcell who has been trending down of late but fills a niche this defense needed. Overall this defensive line is simply not good.

Injuries will do that to a team, and it will likely show over the last two weeks as the Broncos’ last two opponents in the Lions and the Raiders actually have a solid offensive line overall.

Future D-Line Less Than Encouraging

Even though the Broncos are playing guys off the street to close the season due to the ample injuries this team is facing, the future prospects of the D-line do not look great. With Harris, Wolfe, and Gotsis all set to hit free agency and the overall disappointment that has been the second-round draft pick in Walker, who is not seeing playing time despite his ‘stats’, the team simply cannot go into 2020 with a starting D-line of Walker-Purcell-Jones.

That would easily be one of the worst defensive lines in the NFL. Unacceptable for any team, but especially one run by head coach Vic Fangio that depends greatly on sending as few rushers possible, dropping numbers into coverage, and developing pressure organically while also maintaining gap discipline and integrity in run defense responsibilities.

Purcell, while a needed skill-set type for this defense as a ‘plug’ at nose tackle, is closer to a JAG than someone any team would want as a plug and play long term contributor, Walker accumulates pass rush stats but with massive struggles in the run game, he's lost his role under another coaching staff raising the question about Walker more than the coaches.

Jones has upside undoubtedly but appears to have been more of a ‘make-up’ pick for the Walker flub given his frame and skill-set as more of a pure interior pass rusher as opposed to a true three-down lineman. Jones has hope to grow into more given he is just a rookie, and has had flashes in run defense at least, but given only 36 out of his 212 total snaps have come in run defense, Denver is doing what they can to limit the 6-foot-3, 281-pound Jones’ exposure in run packages.

Fortunately for the Broncos, it is almost impossible to imagine a scenario where the previously laid out starting three on the defensive line is what the team rolls with heading into 2020. With the draft capital and cap space the team is projected to have, the Broncos are very likely to attack the defensive line multiple times over the duration of the offseason.

Given how much defenses led by Fangio have poured resources into the defensive trenches in the past, Denver is likely to follow that model and add some serious mass to their defensive front when given the opportunity.

The Broncos are likely to re-sign at least one of Harris, Wolfe, and Gotsis. Which one depends on the market and what the players are looking for as much as anything. Harris has been playing well down the stretch this season, but all signs point to the fact that he wants to get paid and may price himself out of what Denver feels comfortable paying for his play.

Wolfe has had injuries throughout his career and is close to the dreaded '30-year-old’ mark, while Gotsis has not lived up to his second-round draft pedigree to date but is still young and could offer some value and growth potential still. Personally, this writer would bet on Wolfe being back next year.

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Outside Free Agent Options

Even if the Broncos end up retaining one of their own free agents on the defensive line, the team should be aggressive with their projected cap space in free agency. Chris Jones, if the Chiefs wind up letting him walk due to cap complications, is the prize jewel of the projected defensive line class.

With a mix of size, power, burst, scheme versatility, and the ability to play one- or two-gap, he would be an absolute home run signing if the Broncos could add him to play between the likes of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. Other projected free agents that could hit the market and entice Denver includes players such as Arik Armstead, Jordan Phillips, D.J. Reader, Michael Brockers, Leonard Williams, A’Shawn Robinson, Gerald McCoy, Javon Hargrave, Austin Johnson, and Ndamukong Suh.

There are also a number of defensive linemen that could hit the market as street free agents. Of course, this requires some projection but two names to keep an eye out for are Calais Campbell and Akeim Hicks.

Even though Campbell has been playing well this year for a bad Jacksonville team, the Jaguars are in massive turmoil and in cap hell to boot with only $1,169,254 in space. Cutting Campbell could save the team $15 million while only costing $2.5 in dead cap.

Jacksonville could easily move on from Campbell to do their best to obtain young pass rush star Yannick Ngakoue. Perhaps the Denver native will decide to come home this time if afforded the opportunity.

The Bears are not in turmoil like the Jaguars are after firing Tom Coughlin and a bevy of internal issues, but Chicago is in cap trouble. With only $10,551,796 in cap space, the Bears could move on from Hicks to free up $10,300,000 million with only a $1.5 million dead cap hit.

Hicks was a phenomenal player under Fangio, but perhaps not as valued in the Bears’ current defense under Chuck Pagano. A reunion of Hicks and Fangio could really help the Broncos defense get a necessary boost upfront on the defense.

Draft Targets

It is very likely that many of these players never hit the market and are re-signed before hitting the market, but the Broncos should absolutely keep their eye out to improve their defensive front. Again, given how valuable defensive linemen that can create pressure without being completely liabilities against the run for Fangio to do what he prefers schematically in sending the least amount of rushers possible while still generating pressure, good interior defensive linemen are worth their weight in gold.

Even if the Broncos do obtain some talent in free agency to help bolster the defensive line, don’t overlook the Broncos using at least one of their five picks in the first three rounds to continue to bolster the unit. With such talents as Auburn’s Derrick Brown, South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw, and Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa all fitting the defense in different ways and potential top 15 picks, it’s very possible the ‘best player available’ at a relative ‘position of need’ ends up being one of these talented freaks when the Broncos are on the clock.

If not round one, though, there is talent to be had later for Denver. The 2020 interior D-line class is nowhere near the massive talent level the 2019 class had, but there are still talented players to be had. Utah’s Leki Fotu, Alabama’s Raekwon Davis, Florida State’s Marvin Wilson, and Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore are all well-known talents that could go anywhere from the end of round one to somewhere day two, amongst a good number of other players.

The Takeaway

It is obvious that if this Broncos’ team is to contend come 2020, Elway is going to have to hit both free agency and the draft out of the park. The team does have a number of exciting young pieces and does feel to be trending in the right direction, but a great offseason is really needed to catapult this team back into national relevance.

It is obvious that Denver has needs along the offensive line, at wide receiver, and at cornerback, but do not sleep on the needs of the defensive front. With so many current starters set to hit free agency, and the value of good three-down multifaceted interior defensive linemen for the Fangio defense, Denver must be aggressive in adding some real mass and talent to the defensive trenches.

This Broncos’ defense has been playing good this season despite the schematic change, a plethora of injuries, and talent deficiencies but solidifying the defensive line could take the unit from good to great.

Follow Nick on Twitter @NickKendellMHH and @MileHighHuddle.