Broncos underrated star Trevathan to test Free Agency

Article by Sam Beresford

Denver Broncos player, and soon to be free agent, Danny Trevathan is one of the most underrated linebackers in the NFL. This was portrayed in the Broncos outstanding defensive display that led them to a 24-10 win in the Super Bowl, where Trevathan played a major role with two fumbles recoveries.

 

Since being drafted into the league in the 6^th round of the 2012 NFL draft (with the pick they received from trading Tim Tebow to the Jets), Trevathan has been under the radar; with bigger stars and names in that Broncos front 7 (such as future hall of famers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware) quite rightly commanding the attention form the media. In college, Trevathan was a star linebacker out of Kentucky and earnt himself First-team All-SEC honours in 2010 and Second-team the year later. He led the conference in tackling (144) in 2011 and led the conference again through nine games in 2011. This, in no doubt, conveys the talent and commitment that has led him to becoming a highly touted free agent.

Trevathan is just entering his prime, at the age of 25 with many good years ahead of him. He has not quite got the measurables that are desired at the top level, standing at 6’1” and weighing in at 240 pounds however, he makes up for that in desire and toughness, as seen by his college statistics. Trevathan is very solid against the run, and a capable tackler. The ability to stop the run is a quality that is tremendously important when trying to find your inside linebacker of the future, and Trevathan clearly portrays this quality, in abundance.

 Even though he plays inside linebacker he has the ability to rush the passer as shown in 2013 (undoubtedly his best year in the league), where he rushed the passer 60 times, equating to 2 sacks, 3 hits and 14 pressures, this meant that he applied pressure onto the quarterback 33 % of rushes, this truly is very effective for a player with limited speed playing on the inside. This tells us that Trevathan is a smart player, who can not only use his physical ability but also his mental ability to get to the quarterback to try to make a play.  However, last season, Trevathan did not achieve one sack in any of his 15 starts, this could be cause for concern, although, he has shown he has the skillset throughout his 50 game regular season career to squash those concerns. 

Many teams are currently looking for a linebacker that can also drop into coverage, when necessary. Trevathan has shown he has the ability to do this, with 5 career interceptions, including 2 last season (returning 1 for a touchdown) and 3 in 2013. This once again comes down to Trevathan’s “football IQ” which is plain to see, although he does not always make the play. You can see him read the quarterbacks eyes, trying to make a play on the ball, this is shown by his 6 pass deflections in 2015 and 10 deflections in 2013.

Overall, Trevathan is not perfect, but he definitely has the potential to become a star linebacker within the league. He definitely has the ball in his court, as far as negotiations go with the Broncos busy off season ahead. Many experts see Von Miller as a likely franchise tag, while Brock Osweiler needs a long term deal and the futures of defensive linemen Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson also need addressing. This could lead to Trevathan being allowed to test the open market, somewhere he will be bound to have suitors all willing to offer him multi-year million dollar contracts for the three down linebacker.   

Traditional Head Coach carousel continues in Cleveland, and other news from the AFC North

Article by Gordon Dedman

Even with the Super Bowl over, the NFL doesn’t stand still and the Browns were running as soon as their season finished. They enjoy musical chairs in Cleveland and once again replaced their coach before he had time to get comfortable in the job.

On average, since 1999 when the Browns team was reborn, the franchise has changed their head coach every two years and the firing of Mike Pettine was true to form. His 3-13 record saw him exit along with the organisation’s general manager.

 

Their quarterbacks cannot be blamed for all the misery on offense. If they don’t have any support, you can’t expect them to produce miracles as they are hounded around the field. Josh McCown performed well under constant pressure and still has two years left on his contract, and should be given the opportunity to confirm his competence, but this is the Browns we are talking about.

As is usual when a new head coach takes over the reins, Hue Jackson has put his own men in place on the coaching staff. With a new offensive coordinator/assistant head coach in Pep Hamilton, yet more changes when this team really needed some stability.

All signs point to Johnny Manziel being shown the exit and amazingly, the draft talk in Cleveland revolves around the selection of a quarterback with their overall second pick. There is even talk of the Cleveland trading for one, but it is just talk so cooler heads will prevail… won’t they?

Against tremendous adversity when he lost some top players during the season, Mike Tomlin still managed to take his team to the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

The NFL Nation writers who report on the AFC North acknowledged Tomlin as their AFC North Coach of the Year for overcoming adversity. Despite the loss of some star players, Tomlin managed to take the Steelers close to Super Bowl 50 before losing to the eventual winners.

They also awarded running back Duke Johnson the Rookie of the Year. Johnston was drafted in the third round by Cleveland and he ended the season with 379 yards rushing on 104 carries so the news isn’t all bad for the Browns.

The Ravens received some good news with wide receiver Steve Smith stating he wants to return to the team after hinting at the beginning of last season that 2015 would be his final year in football.  The injury that saw him miss half the season has changed his mind – if he makes a full recovery from his Achilles injury.

While the Bengals wait for Andy Dalton to begin throwing again after fracturing his thumb in week 14, they promoted their quarterback coach Ken Zampese to the offensive coordinator position. The change was forced on the team after Hue Jackson moved to the Browns.

Vontaze Burfict’s 3-game suspension for his hit on Steelers Antonio Brown was upheld by the NFL appeals officer Derrick Brooks.