Broncos Need to Get Younger on Defense

Mike Shanahan's decision to gut his defense and bring in Jim Bates as a new coordinator hasn't resulted in much success for the Broncos. Fixing that unit has been a priority during the bye week and will continue to be a focus as the team steels itself for a visit from Pittsburgh on the 21st. I wonder if they will make a radical change along their defensive line.

As mentioned earlier this week, Simeon Rice hasn't worked out at defensive end and the team thought so much of starting tackles Sam Adams and Amon Gordon that they benched them for the game against the Colts. John Engleberger is a textbook place holder at the end opposite Rice but the only guy playing really well has been Elvis Dumervil. They drafted three defensive linemen this April so why not scale back the veterans and give the trio of Tim Crowder, Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas a chance to improve what's been a lackluster unit?

The ex-Gators Thomas and Moss were big talents whose character questions on draft day dropped them into Denver's lap. It's hard to think they would do a worse job than Gordon and Engleberger against the run and Moss could really add some pressure on the quarterback opposite Dumervil. Crowder, a second rounder, was active for the first time last week and should see increased time as part of the rotation. There will be growing pains but it will be to their long-term benefit to get the rookies on the field more.