2010 NFL Combine Report — Five Prospects That Could Fix the Denver Run Defense

1.)  Jared Odrick, Defensive End, Penn State.

It’s no secret that Denver struggled defending the run last season.  All that hype you’re hearing about Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles is directly due to their season ending romp over the Broncos.  And, by the way, the Raiders averaged around seven yards per rush in another late season slapping at Mile High.

Yeah, it would be easy to blame the problems on the absence of a premier nose tackle.  And yeah, even Josh McDaniels admitted that there’s a “hole in the middle.”  But with a sliver of hope still remaining for last year’s signee Chris Baker, and an absence of nose tackles worth the 11th overall pick, defensive end should be an earlier concern for Denver.

I know I’m being hypocritical to some degree.  Odrick is probably just as much of a reach at 11 as any nose tackle, but after talking to him today, I’m not sure he won’t fly up draft boards as we approach April.  He weighed in at 301 pounds and stood slightly taller than 6’5″.  That’s a big boy.  With Vonnie Holliday and Kenny Peterson both set to be over 31 years old by next season, and Ryan McBean managing 25 total tackles in three years, the time is now to find some young blood.

Odrick has the strength, quickness, and versatility to thrive in Denver’s system.  And when he told me that he believed his biggest strength was his character, I’d heard enough to know that he’ll be on the Broncos’ radar come April.

2.)  Sean Weatherspoon, Linebacker, Missouri

There are definitely bigger players hanging around Indianapolis this weekend, but there’s no bigger personality.  Sean Weatherspoon is just that kind of guy.  He calls himself “loquacious.”  And then he laughs about using the word loquacious.  When a cameraman asked for a picture, Weatherspoon politely finished the question he was answering, turned to the lens, and posed with a giant smile for a good seven seconds.  He’s just that kind of guy.  When NFL scouts asked him if his Mobile personality was a ruse, he laughed and proved that it wasn’t.

Now I know that may seem like a characteristic that could get old.  Sounds a little too TO, right?  Wrong.  When it’s coupled with an honest humility, a gladiatorial work ethic, and some serious college stats, it’s just the kind of thing this Denver defense needs.

A 4-3 outside linebacker in college at 6’1″ 241 pounds, Weatherspoon said he had been contacted by more 3-4 teams looking at him as an inside guy than people wanting him to play the flats in a three ‘backer set.  And that’s where Denver would need him.  Wesley Woodyard is loved by fans, and Andra Davis made some plays, but this spot is upgradeable.

When you run a 3-4 and there’s only one guy, the nose tackle, playing up inside on the line, the middle backers become integral to a team’s run defense.  When a guy with a personality like this records 388 tackles in college and gets praised throughout his career as a vocal and emotional leader, hopefully he becomes a Denver Bronco.

3.)  Brandon Deaderick, Defensive End, Alabama

It’s hard to find a prospect who has overcome a greater obstacle than Brandon Deaderick.  In case you didn’t know, Deaderick was shot in an August 2009 robbery attempt while he sat in his car.  A man walked to his door, pointed a gun at him, and said, “Give it up.”  Deaderick simply said “no,” and was shot in the arm.

Before we talk about the toughness it takes to work back from that kind of event, how about the fact that Deaderick had a bullet-filled barrel staring him down, and still didn’t back down.  Sounds like the kind of defensive lineman any team would covet to me.  You can’t buy that kind of grit.

But here we are today, with Deaderick fully-healed and ready to workout for scouts on Monday.  He’s a rare prospect who actually played in a 3-4 system in college under Bill Belichick disciple Nick Saban.  When asked how he reacted when the lead tore through his upper arm, Deaderick casually chuckled and responded, “I thought, ‘O.  Man.  I guess I just got shot.’”  Think there’s any offensive lineman in the NFL that he’d fear?  I’ll tell you the same thing Deaderick told the would-be thief.  No.

4.)  Keaton Kristick, Linebacker, Oregon State

What’s not to like about this guy?  Sitting at his interview table, before the PA system announced that he was even available for interview, Kristick joked that he was giving it five minutes and then leaving if no one showed up to talk to him.  I’m glad I did.

He’s not a top prospect, and he readily admits that.  He’s using it as a challenge.  An admitted coffee junkie, his extraordinarily high energy level is as much a natural trait as it is caffeine-induced.  From the minute you start talking to this guy, you like him.  He’s honest, self-assured, and noticeably excited to be at the combine.

“I’m just trying to make the most of this experience.  You only get one chance at this thing.”

But since personalities don’t make tackles, it helps to know that Kristick says he’s been running the 40 yard dash in the 4.5 range during training, and that he was widely considered by opponents to have reached his goal of becoming the “meanest player in the Pac 10.”

But Kristick said it’s important to remember that “it is an on/off switch that determines how you play on the field and how you act off of it.”  And it’s just as important to remember that the last player to come out of this conference with long hair and a “meanest player” moniker was Clay Matthews.  You know, the guy who just finished earning 10 sacks in an incredible rookie season for Green Bay.

5.)  Linval Joseph, Nose Tackle, East Carolina

And finally, we get the heart of the 3-4 defense.  The nose tackle.  The guy, according to coach Josh McDaniels, asked to play both “the frontside A gap, and the backside A gap.”  Basically, he’s responsible for both of the holes on either side of the opponent’s center.

What that means, in layman’s terms, is that you better be one wide sonofagun if you plan on taking up three horizontal yards of space.  Measuring in at 6’5.5″ and 322 pounds, Linval Joseph looked more like a nine-yard kind of guy.  His athleticism is supposedly off the charts, and we’ll let you know how he tests on Monday, but for now just imagine a guy that weighs more than three times as much as a US Army Hellfire Missile and moves almost as quickly.

When McDaniels told me that there were “a few talented players in this draft [at nose tackle] that we’re really looking at,” he might not have realized he was looking at just one man.