Stud No. 1 – Shaquil Barrett
If you’re one of those Broncos fans who prefers to wait until the regular season to start tuning in to games, you had some idea of what Shaquil Barrett can do. After all, the guy already had two forced fumbles and two sacks heading into Sunday’s game at Cleveland. But Barrett, the linebacker out of CSU, had been a wrecking ball throughout the preseason as well and had yet another huge day against the Browns.
Getting his first NFL start in place of the injured DeMarcus Ware, Barrett not only logged quality “replacement” minutes, he had arguably the best game of anyone on the defense. On the day he logged nine tackles (seven solo), 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Oh, and he forced (and recovered a fumbled).
Barrett’s three forced fumbles lead the team. Not bad for a guy who’s primary role entering the season was thought to be a rotational piece along with Shane Ray to spell Ware and perhaps Von Miller as needed. Instead, Barrett has asserted himself as on-par with the rest of the dominating players on the Denver defense.
With the loss of Shane Ray for up 4-6 weeks with a MCL sprain, and the veteran Ware’s back issues that could linger into the season, Barrett is showing no signs of a dropoff in production opposite Von Miller. That’s a comforting thought for a team that’s needed its defense to secure wins through the opening stretch of the season.
