The Denver Broncos are coming off of their first win of the NFL preseason, winning 34-30 this past Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Two defenders from the Broncos rookie draft class stood out as we take a look at our first defensive film room series of the season.
Denver Broncos Film Room: Broncos rookie Jonah Elliss and Kris Abrams-Draine stand out
Broncos head coach Sean Payton has a lot of hope and belief invested in this year’s rookie draft class headlined by Bo Nix, but players like Jonah Elliss and Kris Abrams-Draine are worthy of more conversation.
Jonah Elliss high motor stands out
On this play in particular, Jonah Elliss showcases why he can be a menace to opposing offenses this upcoming season. Denver’s defense executes a stunt inside that sees him move from the outside linebacker spot to rushing inside as the defensive line aims to bow the pocket around the quarterback. Indy’s QB does a great job of seeing the pressure inside, and gets to the outside, but Elliss tracks him with his eyes the entire time. Instead of chasing in a trail technique, Elliss straight lines it, mirroring his outside hip with the QB’s inside hip, making it difficult for the offense to gain ground. His high motor stands out big time here as Elliss forces him out of bounds for a third down stop.
Kris Abrams-Draine gaining more confidence
Kris Abrams-Draine is one player who has shown a demonstrable jump from minicamp to training camp as he’s gotten more comfortable with the Broncos’ defensive scheme. On this play here, he’s got man coverage on the number one receiver outside of the numbers. KAD does a great job of being patient at the start of the snap, doesn’t lunge at the receiver, and watches his first move before jamming and climbing upfield against the outside release. The receiver throttles down near the first down-yard marker, but Abrams-Draine is right there mirroring his every step, doing a great job getting his hand secured around the outside hip of the receiver and bringing his ball-side hand forward to force out of bounds for an incompletion.
Broncos defense utilizes good disguise on blitz look
On Denver’s first defensive series, they come out in a two-high shell with a press coverage indicator at the start. Denver’s nickel personnel is on the field with Ja’Quan McMillian in the slot. Mathis shows press but drops back to disguise his look. It looks like here Denver could be running man coverage up top with the two receivers toward the field and zone on the boundary, with Mathis having deep third responsibility or match if the receiver goes vertical past seven to eight yards, with Devon Key playing the curl to flat. Alex Singleton is the key on this play because he’s blitzing and doesn’t show an indication of it until the ball is snapped, allowing him to come free inside the B-gap, forcing Anthony Richardson to dump it off quickly. Because Singleton is blitzing, Cody Barton essentially moves over to replace him in the middle hook while Riley Moss and McMillian play man coverage, with P.J. Locke playing the deep middle 1/3.
Damarri Mathis nearly comes away with an interception
The Colts come out in a 2×2 look with a condensed formation on the defensive left side, with Michael Pittman Jr. motioning across. Denver’s presnap communication defensively is something that stands out on this play because every level of the field has to be aware of crossing routes, vertical releases, and congestion that could impact their coverage. At the top of the screen, the number one receiver — we number receivers one, two, or three based on the sideline in for those interested — runs Riley Moss off vertically on a deep route, while number two is going to release vertically and bend it across the field around the 35-37 yard line toward the middle of the field, while the number two receiver on the bottom runs a similar route as the number two receiver up top in an attempt to create congestion with a rub route, which ideally should free up a receiver. Pittman Jr. is going to come underneath the route of number two and run a drag, where Cody Barton identifies him as the nearest crossing threat and runs with him. P.J. Locke drops to the middle of the field to protect deep, while Devon Key drops underneath and sinks back in the event the backside deep over comes into his area, while Singleton picks up the running back releasing for his route. Mathis climbs over the intended pick route and does a great job of beating the receiver to the ball for a near interception.
Alex Singleton recovers in man coverage to make a third-down stop
The Colts motion away from a 2×2 formation into a 3×1 look to the left side. Riley Moss follows the number three receiver in motion where he’ll align inside against a stack look, forcing Damarri Mathis to play off and outside and Ja’Quan McMillian to play tight underneath against the logjam between the number two and number three receiver who extends upfield vertically, with Devon Key plays over the top. Number two crossing allows P.J. Locke to pick him up while Mathis plays the sit route down below against the number one receiver. This leaves Cody Barton in alignment against the running back, while Singleton is playing inside leverage against the tight end who is flexed out. Ideally this isn’t a great matchup for Singleton to have there, and if they wanted to, it appears Singleton and Barton could combo the TE/RB, meaning Barton takes the TE if he runs inside and Singleton can take the RB who is coming out for a route to the outside. Instead, they stay locked in with their presnap assignment and the tight end gets a stab release inside to gain separation against Singleton, but the quarterback is very late at throwing the ball, allowing Singleton to chase in trail technique and make the play short of the first down marker, forcing the Colts to punt.
