Midseason All-Pro Team
Honorable mention to Brandon McManus who finished behind Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. McManus was the named to the quarter-season All-Pro team and has only missed one field goal all season. He’s 18-for-19 on the year having missed only a 50+ yard attempt. He’s also perfect on extra points, even with the longer distance this season
Honorable mention also goes to T.J. Ward who also claimed a quarter-season award. Ward has since surrendered his status to Reshad Jones.
Unlike McManus and Ward, DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller held court from their quarter-season awards and took home midseason All-Pro honors for edge rushers. Chris Wesseling, who composed the list, had this to say about Denver’s dynamic duo…
Cornerback Aqib Talib is generating surprising Defensive Player of the Year buzz (more on that below), but Miller and Ware are the focal point of Wade Phillips’ blitz-happy 3-4 scheme that gave Aaron Rodgers‘ the worst whupping of his career. Denver’s linebacker depth is incredible. Backup pass rushers Shaquil Barrett, Lerentee McCray and Shane Ray would start on many other teams.
I gave Ware the nod opposite Miller as a testament to the Broncos’ dominance, which could reach historical proportions by the end of the season…
Indeed, it has been a remarkable season so far for both Ware and Miller, even with Ware’s lingering back issues. The duo leads Denver’s defense, which ranks tops in yards per game, passing yards per game, points per game and sacks.
Miller was our No. 1 defensive playmaker in this week’s “Power Rankings” and Ware ranked No. 5 on our list. As we pointed out and Wesseling confirmed, there’s really no wrong answer when trying to identify Denver’s top playmakers on defense.
