Thread: Little Wolfe 😀

http://m.denverbroncos.com/news-and-...3-5e5ff2225243

According to teammates Derek Wolfe and Domata Peko, Gotsis has succeeded -- to the point where now his fellow defensive linemen call him "Little Wolfe."

"He's putting some weight on and he's getting stronger," Wolfe said. "You've just got to mature. He's a young kid still. He's just got to mature. As time goes on, he's starting to get it more and more."

Given that the hair-on-fire intensity of Wolfe is what Gotsis needs to succeed, that moniker says a lot about how far the 2016 draft pick has come this offseason.

"Just from hearing guys in the locker room, Adam's been a lot better," Peko said. "Just me seeing him right now, he seems like a whole different player than last year."

OK. Bigger and stronger is nice. We'll see whether he's a bust or not when he gets on the field. He's kind of an extra player right now. They just drafted a guy at his position in the 2nd round who is expected to start in DeMarcus Walker, so where Gotsis fits on the depth chart is a little murky right now. Probably the coaches don't know themselves just yet.

Originally Posted by Cugel

OK. Bigger and stronger is nice. We'll see whether he's a bust or not when he gets on the field. He's kind of an extra player right now. They just drafted a guy at his position in the 2nd round who is expected to start in DeMarcus Walker, so where Gotsis fits on the depth chart is a little murky right now. Probably the coaches don't know themselves just yet.

Half the analysis of our "DL" consists of claims the loss of its SECOND-best COMPLEMENTARY player crippled it. It's more accurate (because more thorough) to say Jacksons payday AND the more versatile Vance Walker going on IR in preseason left nothing but Gotsis or a guy Kubiak/Wade/Kollar got their final year in Houston.

There's little reason to expect this years 2nd round 3-4 DE any more NFL-ready than LAST years. It's far more reasonable to expect the 63rd pick is better with a year of experience (under Wade and Kollar, alongside Wolfe) than the 51st pick with NO experience. Either is likely to need breathers regardless; whether 6'4" 280 or 287, running, pushing and hitting for 3½ hours would have a high fatigue factor even if they didn't have to go through opposing NFL starters (which they do.)

A better question, IMHO, is whether we have room for BOTH Walkers since the presence of BOTH Pekos also reduces the need for the rotational/backup NT that, along with his excellent DE play, made Vance Walker so critical—until his season-ending injury. My favorite thing about Vance Walker is that he gave us a solid rotational player at TWO positions. But if we keep Kyle Peko to backup his cousin, spending 2nd rounders on two DEs in as many years would seem to make Vance Walker only third on the depth chart at EITHER position, plus we'd have to pay him (at least) the vet minimum and hope he's still himself after (and fully recovered from) a torn ACL.

I like the dude: A quiet lunch pail player, without whose help at multiple positions we might not have won SB 50. But those are a whole lot of "ifs" (and $900K+ cap space) for a guy who just turned 30, would only be #3 on the depth chart and reached the end of his Broncos contract several months ago.

This year, I'd prefer Vance Walker to the "other Walker" and "other Peko," but that's not "win from now on" thinking. Plus, all the rest remain under contract at least through next year (OK, technically Kyle Peko's an ERFA in 2018) while Vance Walker's not currently on the roster unless/until we negotiate a new contract.

So, yeah, my guess is the "other Walker" is our backup/relief RDE and the "other Peko" is our backup/relief NT. A pair of high picks <25 just have far more long term upside than a single FA >30 and fresh off a season-ending injury, ESPECIALLY when the picks are paid for (and in advance) while the FA is not.

I think a difference between Walker and Gotis though, is while Gotis was thought to have a lot of upside, he was viewed as very raw, whereas Walker was one of the most productive pass rushers in all of college.

We shall see.

They plan to run a pretty fluid rotation to keep guys fresh. People forget we didn't just lose Jackson, but as Joel said we also lost Walker and people also forget Smith logged very solid minutes at the end of the season. replacing those losses with Billy Winn and Crick says all you need to know

Originally Posted by Jsteve01

They plan to run a pretty fluid rotation to keep guys fresh. People forget we didn't just lose Jackson, but as Joel said we also lost Walker and people also forget Smith logged very solid minutes at the end of the season. replacing those losses with Billy Winn and Crick says all you need to know

I'd forgotten about Antonio myself, so good catch there.

With all the long laments about our losses at DE, one would expect more people to remember how vital both Smith and Vance Walker were to our SB run, especially given Wolfes suspension the first 25% of the season. With them but without him, we started 4-0, including:

1) Scoring 14 pts in the final minute to come back and stun KC on the road (Charles deserves an honorary Broncos Ring for that one )
2) Hillmans best game of his career in a 3 pt win over the eventual NFCN Champ Vikings and
3) Staking claim to the title of #1 D, by holding every passer to <300 yds and every runner but Charles to (far) <100, while netting a +3 turnover differential.

People forget we didn't just lose Jackson because that was the only DE but Wolfe they ever noticed. That is, they noticed Jackson falling on a SB fumble in the end zone a split second before Ware did, then leaving for a big payday in the offseason, but noticed next to nothing Walker and Smith did in that game or the 17 that led to it. To be fair, I didn't notice Walker either until I publicly wondered early in the season who was spelling Sly at NT, and VonDoom pointed out that Walker was: Last year he wasn't around to do that nor replace Jackson, so our run D went to Hell.

The thing about Crick and Winn is that they're largely known quantities who'd be $500,000 in dead money (total) if cut. In fact, we ALREADY cut Winn once, but released someone else and re-signed Winn after the draft. Even if they stay, both contracts expire at seasons end. And, of course, Vance Walker and Antonio Smiths contracts have ALREADY expired and are >30 (but cost us nothing more.)

Cutting Gotsis ALONE would cost >3X as much dead money, plus he's <25 and a full year removed from his own serious injury, with another year of American football experience (significant since he didn't start playing until age 13, yet was already good enough within 6 years to make Australias team in the IFAF tournament, then immediately get a scholarship from Georgia Tech.)

The real bottom line though is that it's unreasonable to expect Elway would "blow" a 2nd round pick on a guy only to blow him OFF after a single season (eating nearly $2M in dead money along the way.) Doubly so when he was drafted as a raw Australian player relatively new to football and fresh off a season-ending injury: It was never realistic to expect he'd start Opening Day, nor at ANY point during his rookie year.

If Elway cuts anyone, it'll be the guy he ALREADY cut once, at no cost. Not last years 2nd rounder, with two years left on a contract that would cost $2M in dead money. Even if Gotsis is just a warm body taking up space and maybe providing occasional 3rd string relief work, that's still $2M cheaper cutting him. If one thing's clear above, it's our need for quality depth, WHOEVER starts. And NFL GMs have an unfortunate but well established tendency to believe a trio of 6s=a pair of 9s.

We've already spent the money for Gotsis on matter what: His 2017 salary was guaranteed at signing. So what would we gain by cutting him? A roster spot for some scrub? What scrub's worth $2M more than the "scrub" we've already GOT? And who knows after a largely lost rookie year; he might just turn out to be something.