The Denver Broncos have had a wild ride in the secondary the last few seasons. A while back, many people considered this team to have had the best cornerback duo in the entire NFL. Aqib Talib left, however, and Denver has been trying to find his long-term replacement ever since. Many thought Denver’s 2014 first-round pick, Bradley Roby, would have been the player. Unfortunately after the 2018 season, he too left in free agency. Their lone starter Chris Harris Jr. was also displaying some vexation towards the team. That left the Broncos in a sticky situation.
Denver’s offseason
This offseason, the Denver Broncos made the secondary a priority. The team may have been feeling some uncertainty in regards to Chris Harris Jr. Nonetheless, the team decided to double down in free agency. Denver first signed Kareem Jackson, a veteran cornerback- safety hybrid who had spent the past eight years with Houston. Jackson is a little more experienced than most prized free agents, yet he remains a highly productive and talented player. Denver locked him into a three-year, $33 million contract. He should immensely augment the Broncos’ secondary.
Following the signing of Kareem Jackson, Denver kept seeking secondary help. The Broncos signed former Chicago corner Bryce Callahan to a three-year, $21 million deal. Callahan has had some health concerns over his career, but is no doubt a talented player, as he helped Chicago lead the league in turnovers in 2018. Hopefully, he can stay healthy, and be the type of player the Broncos’ aspire for him to be.
The Denver Broncos had signed two cornerbacks already, but John Elway wasn’t quite finished yet. While rumors were running rampant about the possible trading of star cornerback Chris Harris Jr., Denver locked in and restructured Harris’ contract. The restructure boosted Harris’ salary up to over $12 million for the 2019 season. John Elway realized how crucial Harris was to this defense, and worked to keep him in the mountains for 2019.
Fitting the pieces together
This is quite the unique group of secondary pieces. All three of Denver’s cornerbacks have the ability to play the slot, and honestly, that might be the best fit for all three. Chris Harris Jr. was regarded as one of the top slot cornerbacks in the NFL in 2018. Pro Football Focus’ Cameron Pezet graded Harris Jr. out in the slot with an 87.1, the second highest grade for slot cornerbacks. In addition, Bryce Callahan played almost exclusively out of the slot for the Bears in 2018, until he went down with an injury. Kareem Jackson also has a great deal of experience playing slot over his years in Houston. How will it all fit together in Mile High?
I expect Chris Harris Jr. to be the Denver Broncos leading outside cornerback for the 2019 season. Harris Jr. is talented enough to take on the role and has the ability to play man to man versus some of the league’s best receivers. Denver has moved Harris all over the defense, lining him up inside, outside, and even at safety at times. While I expect Vic Fangio to keep offenses guessing with how he arranges the pieces, Harris Jr. should be the team’s top outside cornerback.
Kareem Jackson is just as versatile as Harris Jr; he played all over Houston’s defense over the years. I think Jackson will see most of his time spent at outside cornerback, but Fangio has been playing Jackson at safety quite often this offseason thus far. Fangio has even said himself, per NFL.com’s Jeremy Bregman, that he hasn’t quite figured out where Jackson will line up in 2019. Knowing Fangio’s creativity, I doubt Jackson stays in one spot. Jackson should see time at both outside corner and safety across from Justin Simmons this season.
Bryce Callahan presumably is the easiest to project in terms of his positioning. Callahan’s strengths line up as a slot cornerback. He is on the smaller side at 5’9”, but his quickness helps him prevent separation from slot receivers. He nabbed two interceptions for the Bears defense in 2018 and proved he can be a playmaker in Vic Fangio’s defense. Fangio also loved to blitz him in 2018, as he racked up 2.0 sacks as well. Callahan figures to be the main nickelback for the Broncos in 2019. If he can stay healthy, this secondary could be special.
With a defense including Derek Wolfe, Bradley Chubb, Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr., Kareem Jackson, and Bryce Callahan, Vic Fangio should be ecstatic figuring out ways to create pressure and get takeaways. Denver has one of the most talented defenses, and with an improved secondary, they can cause a lot of trouble for offenses this upcoming year. I’m excited to see what Fangio can do with such a talented group, and to see if it can translate into wins.