The Denver Broncos traded for defensive end Jurrell Casey in March and selected defensive lineman McTelvin Agim in the third round of April’s draft. Agim (22) will likely serve as a rotational player as a rookie and he might eventually serve as a replacement for Casey (30) in the future.
Casey and Agim can both stop the run but the Broncos seemingly brought both of them in for one main purpose — generate an interior pass rush.
“This is a great veteran in our league,” defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said of Casey on June 11. “He’s been a great interior player, but he adds to the pass rush. That’s really important to us. To give us that push up inside with the edge rushers we have, that’s very valuable.”
During his nine years with the Tennessee Titans, Casey totaled 51 sacks and was voted to five Pro Bowls. Agim recorded 31 tackles for losses and 14.5 sacks during his four seasons at Arkansas.
“In today’s football, most of our picks you’ll see pass rush in them when you’re talking about an interior or an exterior defensive lineman,” Donatell said. “[Agim] brings that pass rush ability to him. There’s a raw sense to him that I think we can bring out, but he does bring the rush.”
Adding players like Casey and Agim to a front seven that already includes star pass rushers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb on the edges will make Denver’s pass rush even scarier for opposing quarterbacks this season.
