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 6th
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.
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