Hungry like D-Wolfe

[Denver Native (Carol)]

After missing the first four games because of a PED suspension, Derek Wolfe is ready to contribute to a front seven that could be the NFL's best.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Bill Kollar made sure Derek Wolfe got right back to work.

Neither the Broncos' defensive line coach nor Head Coach Gary Kubiak wanted to hesitate at getting Wolfe back up to speed after he served a four-game suspension for a violation of the league's PED policy. So Kollar put Wolfe through a rigorous workout at Monday's practice.

The session left the fourth-year defensive lineman gasping. But it didn't dull his excitement at being back.

"Just hitting the sled until you're ready to fall over. Just running [around] hoops and working pass-rush moves. He made me do a 200-yard sprint. That was fun," Wolfe deadpanned.

rest, plus videos - Derek and Kubes
http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Hungry-like-D-Wolfe/a4885a26-b526-48c4-96ce-a6befbdb9125

[pulse]

I hope he is up to form and ready to play.

[BroncoWave]

I hope he is up to form and ready to play.

He better be or he won't crack the rotation. It's nice to have the luxury of not absolutely having to plug him in if he's not ready.

[Dean]

Who on the 53 man roster do we have to cut to make him active?

[Dzone]

Wolfe sounds like a caged animal waiting to be unchained, with no wear and tear on his body he is going to bring additional bedlam for oakland

[DenBronx]

I hope he is up to form and ready to play.


Listen to his interview on the main page. He's foaming at the mouth to play. He sounds pissed off...like he wants to hit somebody.

[NightTerror218]

Listen to his interview on the main page. He's foaming at the mouth to play. He sounds pissed off...like he wants to hit somebody.

I think he is the most underrated DL we have. He is best run stuffer too

[GEM]

Oh man, can't wait to see what it looks like with him in there against the run. :D I feel that if there is any weakness, and there really isn't much, it's been run up the middle, and Wolfe is pretty freaking good there. :dance:

[TXBRONC]

Listen to his interview on the main page. He's foaming at the mouth to play. He sounds pissed off...like he wants to hit somebody.

I'm sure he does.

[Timmy!]

He looked good in preseason....contract year too.

[Spiritguy]

Wolfe looks primed for some action. Then add Kenny Anunike to the mix who's just a fresh as Wolfe and that's one impressive group of DE's

[Bronco4ever]

After all those years of cruddy D-line play, it's pretty incredible to lose a solid starter for 4 games and not even miss a beat. Not that Derek Wolfe isn't a nice player, but damn, it sure is nice to have this kind of depth.

[DenBronx]

Does he immediately regain his starter position or does he slowly get worked back in?

[NightTerror218]

Does he immediately regain his starter position or does he slowly get worked back in?

Problem depends on this week's practice.

[TXBRONC]

Problem depends on this week's practice.

He's been out a month it may take him a bit to work back into game shape. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts but then is rotated in and out frequently.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

20-25 snaps?

[VonDoom]

Wolfe looks primed for some action. Then add Kenny Anunike to the mix who's just a fresh as Wolfe and that's one impressive group of DE's

I forgot about Anunike. Man, can this D be any better?


Who on the 53 man roster do we have to cut to make him active?

Don't think it was announced yet, though I thought it was supposed to have been today


He's been out a month it may take him a bit to work back into game shape. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts but then is rotated in out frequently.

I agree. It's not like Walker has been bad so no great rush. Will be great to see Wolfe back out there though

[HORSEPOWER 56]

Antonio Smith may be the odd man out to get Wolfe back. I think Walker has played better than Smith so far.

[SR]

Antonio Smith may be the odd man out to get Wolfe back. I think Walker has played better than Smith so far.

Smith was really good against MN. It'll be one of the two though.

[TXBRONC]

20-25 snaps?

I would imagine it will be something along those lines.

[EastCoastBronco]

I forgot he was back this week.
This will only make the D better...and that's a scary thought..

[broncofaninfla]

The Broncos get a one week grace period before they have to cut anybody to make room for Wolfe. The NFL gives teams one week to evaluate what kind of condition they are in.

[VonDoom]

20-25 snaps?

Troy Renck ‏@TroyRenck 2m2 minutes ago

Kubiak said expects 30-35 plays from Wolfe #Broncos

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Troy Renck ‏@TroyRenck 2m2 minutes ago

Kubiak said expects 30-35 plays from Wolfe #Broncos

Wow, he must be in good shape if they want him to play that much, or they think his level of play will be that much better than Smith or Walker

[Joel]

Smith was really good against MN. It'll be one of the two though.
So Anunike to IR, or cutting a scrub WR, is off the table?

Help me out, camp watchers: Why are so many people so high on Anunike? I've nothing against the guy, but not much for him either. After hiring Wade (and before drafting Ray) I had hopes 6'5" 260 lb. pass rush specialist Anunike could be our 3rd 3-4 OLB, but question whether he's big enough to stuff the run as a 3-4 DE must, even after reports he gained 15-20 lbs. this offseason. That'd be fine for a 4-3 LDE, but, especially for a guy that tall, is a smaller 3-4 DE: ALL our others weigh more (Smith's the lightest at an official 280, but also 2" shorter, so thicker.) No others are coming off a 4th knee injury.

I'm not knocking him, just wondering if we'd be better off if he were an OLB in the mold of Ware rather than a DE in the mold of Wolfe. Speaking of whom (since he's the threads subject,) Wolfe's the same height as Anunike (6'5") but listed at 285; here's his Wikipedia pic: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Derek_Wolfe.JPG/800px-Derek_Wolfe.JPG That's a pretty svelte 285: Anunike's the same 6'5" but (officially) 5-10 lbs. lighter.

Anyway, welcome back to Wolfe, a fine player even though Smith and Walker have been solid subs; I'm not too worried about our depth at the position whichever way we go.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Anunike played will in the preseason. He would be great to rotate in during nickel and dime situations at DE, not LB, especially with our depth at LB.

[Joel]

Anunike played will in the preseason. He would be great to rotate in during nickel and dime situations at DE, not LB, especially with our depth at LB.
Preseason means a smidge more than practice. He makes sense as nickel/dime DE (though might've made more at his old weight) but I'd worry about him getting run over on 1st and 10. And our LB depth isn't THAT great. It's slightly better at OLB, IMHO, but still amounts to a second year guy who had a great preseason and a rookie with a lot of draft buzz: That's a lot of promise, but very little proven.

Smith and Walker are vets who've played well in DE rotation; not sure I'd give up either for an oft-injured 2nd year PS guy who MAY be good transitioning to the same position (fresh off another knee surgery.) We can't really know what we've got in Anunike until he DOES play meaningful downs in actual games, but Smith and Walker are solid AND known quantities. I'm (definitely) not saying we should cut Anunike, only that I'm not sure we should cut one of the other two either.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I was referring to OLB. I assumed that was understood since there's no way we would consider him at ILB and our discussion had nothing to do with ILB.

Joel, has the term 'analysis paralysis' ever come up in the world you live in?

[Joel]

I was referring to OLB. I assumed that was understood since there's no way we would consider him at ILB and our discussion had nothing to do with ILB.
Fair enough; after what seems like a lifetime of criticisms for vagueness when unspecific and verbosity when nongeneral, I'm hypersensitive to the Mortons Fork of debate. ;)


Joel, has the term 'analysis paralysis' ever come up in the world you live in?
Rarely in reference to me (oddly enough) but I'm familiar with it, yes. But THIS analysis promotes no paralysis: Anunike already sidelined, and has been since having his knee scoped 1½ months ago after the most recent in a series of knee injuries going back to college; we could put him on IR with no risk of losing his future service to another team, and keep right on going with the more than adequate rotation play of Smith and Walker. Right now that looks like a much safer bet than cutting one of them in hopes Anunike's ready for real games and his knee doesn't buckle (again) by December.

If we want to keep them AND Anunike on the 53, we could PS our #3 TE or #3 QB with short term risk and if, heaven forbid, we need one of them long term we can cut Smith/Walker or put Anunike on IR then. Or we could release Doss and count on Bolden to be a 5th CB as well as backup safety and STs player. There are more and better options than cutting Smith/Walker to make room for Wolfes return.

[SR]

Anunike played will in the preseason. He would be great to rotate in during nickel and dime situations at DE, not LB, especially with our depth at LB.

I wouldn't rotate him in on passing downs at all. If I'm the coach, I keep Jackson and Wolfe on the field as much as humanly possible with Walker and Smith coming in to give the other two a break.

[SR]

Fair enough; after what seems like a lifetime of criticisms for vagueness when unspecific and verbosity when nongeneral, I'm hypersensitive to the Mortons Fork of debate. ;) Rarely in reference to me (oddly enough) but I'm familiar with it, yes. But THIS analysis promotes no paralysis: Anunike already sidelined, and has been since having his knee scoped 1½ months ago after the most recent in a series of knee injuries going back to college; we could put him on IR with no risk of losing his future service to another team, and keep right on going with the more than adequate rotation play of Smith and Walker. Right now that looks like a much safer bet than cutting one of them in hopes Anunike's ready for real games and his knee doesn't buckle (again) by December. If we want to keep them AND Anunike on the 53, we could PS our #3 TE or #3 QB with short term risk and if, heaven forbid, we need one of them long term we can cut Smith/Walker or put Anunike on IR then. Or we could release Doss and count on Bolden to be a 5th CB as well as backup safety and STs player. There are more and better options than cutting Smith/Walker to make room for Wolfes return.

His current knee injury is not the knee he ****** up in college. And I say ****** up because it was really ****** up.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I wouldn't rotate him in on passing downs at all. If I'm the coach, I keep Jackson and Wolfe on the field as much as humanly possible with Walker and Smith coming in to give the other two a break.

Agreed

[dogfish]

if sambrailo is healthy enough to play, we probably cut polumbus, or center james ferentz. . . OL scrubs (or one of our warm body TEs) are easier to replace than solid DL depth-- can't get rid of smith, walker or anunike. . .

[VonDoom]

if sambrailo is healthy enough to play, we probably cut polumbus, or center james ferentz. . . OL scrubs (or one of our warm body TEs) are easier to replace than solid DL depth-- can't get rid of smith, walker or anunike. . .

I would agree with that second part. I don't know who we'll cut, but I doubt it's either Walker or Smith as some have suggested. If Wolfe had been on the roster from week one, I can't envision one of those guys being cut and I don't see any reason to do so now.

[TXBRONC]

Troy Renck ‏@TroyRenck 2m2 minutes ago

Kubiak said expects 30-35 plays from Wolfe #Broncos

That"s what about half the defensive snaps?

[Denver Native (Carol)]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the four weeks to this point, the Broncos defense has established itself as not only a unit to be respected, but to be feared. With a ball-hawking secondary, two dynamic edge rushers, a stout line and a savvy linebacking corps consistently making impact plays, you might have forgotten that the defense was missing one of its starters.

Without defensive end Derek Wolfe due to a four-game suspension, the Broncos mitigated his absence by substituting Antonio Smith into that starting role while rotating in Vance Walker.

In the meantime, Wolfe maintained the physical shape he built up over the offseason and through training camp. He often worked out during Broncos games to mimic game tempo, he said. Other than training, he simply waited with bated breath and mouth watering.

rest - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Miller-You-all-are-going-to-see-a-new-Derek-Wolfe/b081d043-382b-4432-bdf8-38f8ea37da74

[Ravage!!!]

Do we have to cut anyone, or was Wolfe counted against the 53 man roster?

[elsid13]

Do we have to cut anyone, or was Wolfe counted against the 53 man roster?

Denver has to cut someone next week but this week they get to carry an extra body. Game day actives roster size remains the same.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Do we have to cut anyone, or was Wolfe counted against the 53 man roster?

I believe we have one week to trim the roster.

[NightTerror218]

I still think Wolfe is our best defensive end. Glad he is back. Not many Broncos can match this dudes motor and will.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Troy Renck Retweeted
Nicki Jhabvala ‏@NickiJhabvala 2h

.@LorenLandow used game simulations to help Derek Wolfe prepare for his return to Broncos: http://dpo.st/1R1J84A

[Denver Native (Carol)]

James Casey released by Broncos to make room for Derek Wolfe

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_28946932/james-casey-released-by-broncos-make-room-derek

[Yashahla17]

It feels so good to have an elite defense on all levels of the defense. Wolfe will only help. Whens anunki coming back?