Broncos' DC Ejiro Evero Dishes on How he'll Rotate Pass Rushers

Ever since Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett injected some seriously positive vibes directly into the bloodstream of Broncos Country, the questions that remain on the defensive side of the ball have been somewhat kicked to the curb.

Under normal circumstances, the Denver Broncos merely having a first-year coordinator taking charge of the defense would set alarm bells ringing.

New Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is a rising young star who has ascended rapidly through the coaching ranks. But it remains a risky hire, partly because he has a number of pressing issues and conundrums when it comes to how he will deploy his personnel, and most importantly, rotate his stable of pass rushers.

Credit must go to GM George Paton for adding pass-rushing arrows to the quiver in order to supply extra ammunition for Evero to get after opposing quarterbacks. Randy Gregory’s arrival in free agency should help make up for the departure of franchise icon Von Miller, and the drafting of Nik Bonitto adds even more extra punch to the rotation.

Evero has expressed his gratitude for having been provided with the required depth to create an extremely athletic pass-rushing rotation, and given the abundance of elite quarterbacking talents in the AFC West, the Broncos will need them all. But how will Evero balance said pass-rushing rotation?

“It’s a factor of who’s playing the best,” Evero said during OTAs. “You get a good rotation, and you want to keep guys fresh. When you rush the passer—interior—or exterior—it’s one of those deals that it’s more tiresome than people think. Depth is always good.”

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Training camp will see Evero testing out what really works when the stakes are significantly raised. To what degree Evero's defense hits the ground running will likely owe much to how head coach Nathaniel Hackett has driven home the value of learning the new system first.

You might have expected that learning curve to involve the high-energy chirping between Hackett and Evero on the practice field. But the opposite has been true, with Hackett admitting the duo has been fully focused on teaching much more than throwing down.

“Not as much as you’d think because we’re not trying to scheme each other,” Hackett replied when questioned trash talking his assistants during team drills. “We’re not trying to attack his defense and he’s not trying to attack our offense. We’re trying to teach systems.”

Early signs remain very positive that Hackett and Evero can get the most out of each other moving forward, even if things only just recently moved beyond the installation stage. Applying the base coat on the refurbishing job would appear to be the sensible approach at this stage.

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