As if the season hadn’t started out bad enough for the Denver Broncos, they lost Bradley Chubb, one of the top young defensive players in the league, to a season-ending injury last week. So now what?
As Broncos fans sulk over that news and lament the fact that Shaquil Barrett was allowed to leave via free agency (even though Barrett had made it clear he wanted to be a starter somewhere), they wonder how much worse things can get.
Enter Malik Reed.
The undrafted rookie out of Nevada was not expected to be a force this season if he even made the team at all, but he had a stellar training camp and preseason and is now the next man up.
Reed has already seen action this season. He has appeared in all four games and has one of the team’s five sacks on the year. Now, his role just gets a lot bigger.
The Broncos will sprinkle in fifth-round pick Justin Hollins, but Reed has been the much more dynamic player and now has a chance to become a key piece of the team’s defense for years to come, much in the same way Barrett did.
“He’s played great,” Broncos inside linebacker Todd Davis said of Reed on Wednesday. “I feel like he’s really made some strides in his game, had a sack last game. He’s played well, not only for a young player but just a player in general he’s played really well. I’m excited to see him do some things.”
Von Miller believes Reed could become the next Barrett.
“Malik is ready to go,” Miller said Thursday. “Malik is ready to go, and I often talk about Shaq like, ‘Hey, Malik you can be that too. You can have that type of success too.’ Shaq was here. Shaq played behind us just like Malik is doing now. With Malik, I point to Exhibit A with Shaq all the time.”
If the Broncos get their first win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, look for No. 59 to make at least one key defensive play that goes a long way toward the upset.
