New Broncos Coordinator Jack Del Rio says Denver Expects to have a Top-10 Defense

[Bronco Rob]

New Broncos Coordinator Jack Del Rio says Denver Expects to have a Top-10 Defense

May 18, 2012 – 7:15 am by Brad Gagnon

Jack Del Rio is a defensive coordinator again, and in Denver he has two pretty awesome pass-rushing toys at his disposal — Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. Del Rio also isn’t complaining about the addition of Peyton Manning, who should help keep pressure off of his young defense.




Jack Del Rio joined Evans and Klatt on KKFN in Denver to talk about his new role as defensive coordinator with the Broncos, his expectations for next season, what he wants to see improve and the dynamic of coaching the defense of a team that has Peyton Manning on offense.


On if he views this job as a stopgap between head-coaching gigs:

“Obviously I was a head coach for a good part of the last nine years, and maybe some day again, but right now my focus is entirely on helping this defense and helping this organization win football games.”


On what he expects from this defense:

“We’re looking for guys who are gonna give it up for us and give it up for each other and we’re gonna build that mentality every day in practice. So that process has begun. We’ve established high expectations, we expect to be a top-10, if not better, defense. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get there but that’s what our goals are.”


On the areas he feels they need to improve the most:

“The areas we were good at last year we want to build on. Getting off on third down was a strength of this defense for sure. But at the end of the day, it was 24th in points allowed, 20th in yards allowed, and those aren’t numbers that we’re looking for. So we gotta do some work up front, making sure that we can keep people from running it down our throats a little bit. We gave up too many explosive plays in the run and the pass game. I think tackling, and understanding how we fit things, and a mixture of some of the coverage elements that we’ll bring should help us do those things. But again, it goes back to 11 men that know what they’re doing that are going hard together, and when you create that kind of mentality you can play really good defense.”


On how having Peyton Manning on offense changes things for his defense:

“With Peyton you’ve gotta be able to play with a lead. And that’s one of the things I think we can do with the strength of our pass rushers. We’ve got — if you looked at the strength of our defense right now it’d be Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil coming off the edges. And we worked hard to fortify the back end a little bit with some of the additions throughout the free agency and draft process. So that should remain a strength. I think the one thing that we tried to do when we go up against Peyton is limit his snaps, and limit his exposure. So we would try and run the ball right at the Colts and try and take away time of possession. And that’ll be something that we can’t allow to happen. Defensively we’ve gotta be able to get people stopped and not let them just run it down the field and control the clock.”





http://sportsradiointerviews.com/201...eyton-manning/

[oubronco]

I think tackling, and understanding how we fit things, and a mixture of some of the coverage elements that we’ll bring should help us do those things.

It's about time we had an DC that expressed tackling

[Bmore Manning]

Love it! Exactly what I expected, big things from this team!

[RaiderH8r]

I expect Denver to have a top 10 defense every year.

[Smiling Assassin27]

i wonder if he's at all concerned about the interior DL.

[PRBronco]

Re: Playing with a lead:
I hope his strategy is not to rush 2 men and sit 9 back in "prevent" ><

[24champ]

Originally Posted by oubronco

It's about time we had an DC that expressed tackling

“I think (tackling and missed assignments) are the two primary things,” Allen said when asked what the defense needed to improve. “When you go back and you look at the tape, we made a lot of mistakes defensively.

I am sure I could find quotes from Slowik, Nolan, Bates etc. on tackling.

[Requiem]

I am so excited for this season.

[oubronco]

Originally Posted by 24champ

I am sure I could find quotes from Slowik, Nolan, Bates etc. on tackling.

Apparently they sucked at teaching them how to do it then

[houghtam]

Yawn. I'll believe it when I see it. Or rather, DON'T see 4 missed tackles on the same play, followed by a sea of backs of defenders' jerseys.

[Cito Pelon]

“The areas we were good at last year we want to build on. Getting off on third down was a strength of this defense for sure. But at the end of the day, it was 24th in points allowed, 20th in yards allowed, and those aren’t numbers that we’re looking for. So we gotta do some work up front, making sure that we can keep people from running it down our throats a little bit. We gave up too many explosive plays in the run and the pass game.

Meh, we'll see. Maybe JDR will be the guy that actually stops the 20+, 30+, 40+ yd plays. Denver has been one of the worst in those categories for about 10 years. I'm not at all sure how they're gonna limit those "explosive plays" with basically the same front seven in terms of actual on-field ability. They must be counting on Wolfe a lot to provide some disruption. Hopefully, dumping Goodman has to count to eliminate a few explosive plays, not only in the passing D, but the rush D also.

Well, maybe they'll get a little bit better. Also, seems like JDR will surely be looking to be an HC again.

[AboveAverage]

Yeah but will he let the dogs loose?

[Lolad]

Fluff puff pass, a good indicator of a good defense is stopping the run and preventing explosive plays. I hope after all these years we make that step

[DBroncos4life]

I think getting Del Rio was the second best thing to happen this off season by a large margin.

[DENVERDUI55]

At least he didn't say "We plan on turning the DL loose!"

[Agamemnon]

With the overall talent level of our defense and the difficulty of our upcoming schedule, a top 10 ranking would nothing short of a miracle. That said, if Del Rio can somehow pull it off I'll be ecstatic.

Truth be told, this is likely what it will take for the Broncos to really win a Super Bowl with Manning.

[Shananahan]

I keep waiting for the fluff piece where the new defensive coordinator says, "We shooting for middle-of-the-road."

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by Shananahan

I keep waiting for the fluff piece where the new defensive coordinator says, "We shooting for middle-of-the-road."

"Hey Erin, welcome to our facility. We're glad you're doing this segment on the re-tooled Broncos defense! Okay, so you'll notice the first thing you see upon entering the complex is our motivational banner which reads, "FAILURE IS AN OPTION." Yeeeeah...we like to keep the mood light around here. Okay, so over here, we've replaced the tackling dummies with funhouse mirrors, where the players can look into them and see the player they truly want to become. Plus it's fun for them to see themselves in all different kinds of shapes and sizes, am I right? Can you imagine what Ty Warren would look like if he were 3 feet tall and 600 lbs? That's funny right there! --"

"Coach, what are your goals for this season?"

"I'd like to lose 10 pounds, shorten up my golf swing, and...oh you mean the team? Yeah, we're hoping for bottom third. That way, if you end up in the middle of the pack, you look like a GOD. And let's face it, Denver hasn't exactly been a model of defensive prowess over the past few decades, know what I'm saying?"

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

With the overall talent level of our defense and the difficulty of our upcoming schedule, a top 10 ranking would nothing short of a miracle. That said, if Del Rio can somehow pull it off I'll be ecstatic.

Truth be told, this is likely what it will take for the Broncos to really win a Super Bowl with Manning.

Not Really. You only need to have either your offense or defense in the top ten. Both is unnecessary and (and frankly unrealistic). The other can unit can be as low as in the bottom third of the league and you can still win the whole shabang, including three of the last four champions.

Going back the last 13 years,

Year Team OFF DEF(points)

99 Ravens 14 - 1
00 Rams 1 - 4
01 Patriots 6 - 6
02 Buccaneers 18 - 1
03 Patriots 12 - 1
04 Patriots 4 - 2
05 Steelers 9 - 3
06 Colts 2 - 23
07 Giants 14 - 17
08 Steelers 20 - 1
09 Saints 1 - 20
10 Packers 10 - 2
11 Giants 9 - 25

[Bronco Rob]

In his career, quarterback Peyton Manning has averaged 26 points a game. During his ten-year head coaching career, John Fox is 39-3 when his team has scored 26 or more points a game.

[StugotsIII]

What is he supposed to say:

Jack Del Rio says "Denver Expects to have a Top-32 Defense"

[CEH]

PMF

[KipCorrington25]

Originally Posted by Shananahan

I keep waiting for the fluff piece where the new defensive coordinator says, "We shooting for middle-of-the-road."

No, those are the Colorado Rockies interviews.

[NorCalBronco7]

Originally Posted by DBroncos4life

I think getting Del Rio was the second best thing to happen this off season by a large margin.

Yup. Such a great signing.

I could see the Broncos being a top 10 defense this season. The DTs and safties will need to step up, but I think the talent level is there.

[pricejj]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

Not Really. You only need to have either your offense or defense in the top ten. Both is unnecessary and (and frankly unrealistic). The other can unit can be as low as in the bottom third of the league and you can still win the whole shabang, including three of the last four champions.

Going back the last 13 years,

Year Team OFF DEF(points)

99 Ravens 14 - 1
00 Rams 1 - 4
01 Patriots 6 - 6
02 Buccaneers 18 - 1
03 Patriots 12 - 1
04 Patriots 4 - 2
05 Steelers 9 - 3
06 Colts 2 - 23
07 Giants 14 - 17
08 Steelers 20 - 1
09 Saints 1 - 20
10 Packers 10 - 2
11 Giants 9 - 25

Judging by the Colt's Offensive Scoring Rank over Manning's last 10 years, I would say we're looking pretty good:

2010 - 4
2009 - 7
2008 - 13
2007 - 3
2006 - 2
2005 - 2
2004 - 1
2003 - 2
2002 - 17
2001 - 2