Denver’s Dumervil may be out for the 2010 Season

August 6, 2010

Denver Broncos linebacker and sack specialist Elvis Dumervil left practice Wednesday after tearing his pectoral muscle. Many sources speculate that Dumervil will be out for at least 4 months, and could possible miss the entire 2010 Broncos season. He is going for a second opinion, but if the original diagnosis is correct it will take a lot of healing and a little bit of luck to get Dumervil back on the field this year.

The Broncos defense is specialized in that they can afford to have a linebacker that’s sole purpose is to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. That’s exactly what Dumervil did last season as he lead the entire NFL with 17 sacks. Generally the sack category is led by defensive ends, but Denver has figured out a way to allow Dumervil the ability to charge the quarterback without sacrificing any coverage down field or allowing big gains on the ground by running backs. Despite a horrible second half of the season that saw the Broncos slide all the way from first place in the AFC West to completely out of the playoffs, they did maintain a consistent balance on the defensive side of the ball.

Denver allowed the 3rd fewest passing yards per game (186.3), and much of that was due to the constant pressure by Dumervil. The Broncos will have to hope that one of their defensive ends can fill the roll in terms of sacks as the second best sack artist on the team last season was defensive lineman Darrell Reid. The loss of Dumervil as a linebacker shouldn’t be too much of a problem to solve as their defensive leader D.J. Williams is one of the best in the league at that position. Finding someone to replace the loss of sacks is another story.

The Broncos are expected to be much more competitive this season. The majority of football handicappers have them finishing second in the weak AFC West, but the problems surrounding the San Diego offense could give them a chance to win the division if they can keep their top-10 defense in order. NFL Experts suspect that the injury to Dumervil will be hard to overcome on the field this year. Management probably feels that it will be hard to overcome in the wallet as Dumervil just signed a 5 year deal worth over 58 million with 43 million being guaranteed.

The Bronco’s weren’t planning for the loss of Dumervil, and obviously though their defense was in good shape as they used their first 5 selections in the 2010 NFL Draft to select offensive players. Only time will tell how the Broncos hold up. The addition of Tim Tebow at quarterback may give them a few more options to score, and take some pressure off the defense. We will soon find out as the Broncos go against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in their first regular season game which is just 5 weeks from this Sunday.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under NFL

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