We ran through the offensive greats last week, so now it is time to kick off the Denver Broncos defensive greats. This one was a bit hard to divvy up since the defense can be a 4-3 traditional or a 3-4 type with edge specialties. After some discussion, we will do interior defensive line here and separate out the true edge rushers into its own category.
That freed us up to really focus on some of the greatest players in the trenches. I had to go with the master of the ‘head-slap’ in Tombstone Jackson,
though he could be a hybrid into the modern edge rusher category. We’ll keep him here, though. I then went with three greats from the Broncos’ three Super Bowl titles before closing it out with an Orange Crush original.
- Rich “Tombstone” Jackson
- Derek Wolfe
- Trevor Pryce
- Malik Jackson
- Ruben Carter
Here’s where our Mile High Report staff landed on the top five for defensive line:
Scotty Payne: Jackson is an obvious one followed by Trevor Pryce and the Super Bowl 50-winning duo of Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson. Broncos do not win a Super Bowl without either. I ended with current Bronco Zach Allen because he continues to be woefully underrated and is a damn good football player.
- Rich “Tombstone” Jackson
- Trevor Pryce
- Derek Wolfe
- Malik Jackson
- Zach Allen
Chris Hart: The peaks of Trevor Pryce’s career are arguably the best of any interior defensive lineman in team history. A versatile player lining up at both tackle and end, Pryce was a four-time Pro-Bowler and two-time All-Pro for the Broncos from 1999 to 2002. Both Smith and Carter played a long time for Denver and were formidable during their respective gridiron eras. Kragen was an underrated member of the Broncos’ defensive line in the 1980s and early 1990s. My last spot goes to Zach Allen. Even though he has been here three seasons, I feel his overall impact on games was greater than what we saw from Derek Wolfe, who has been mentioned on a few lists.
- Trevor Pryce
- Paul Smith
- Ruben Carter
- Greg Kragen
- Zach Allen
Joe Mahoney: Pryce finished his career with 91 sacks and most of those were with the Broncos. Wolfe was critical to the success of the 2015 Broncos and also is a large part of why Von Miller will be in the Hall of Fame. Tombstone was best DT in the NFL for a period of three straight seasons 68-70 despite being undersized like Greg Kragen. Zach Allen has been one of the best DL in the NFL during his 3 NFL seasons in Denver. He finally earned first team All-Pro last season.
- Trevor Pryce
- Derek Wolfe
- Tombstone Jackson
- Greg Kragen
- Zach Allen
Sadaraine: Zach Allen is freakish at creating pressure and has been for years. Derek Wolfe was a really big reason all of you know the name Von Miller, and he doesn’t get enough credit for what he meant to that defense in 2015. Trevor Price was a freakish playmaker. Malik Jackson also doesn’t get enough credit for what he meant to the 2015 Super Bowl run.
- Trevor Price
- Derek Wolfe
- Malik Jackson
- Zach Allen
- Paul Smith
Ian St. Clair: The first name on this list will be a surprise, to some. But to me, he was the best in franchise history. There’s no Orange Crush without Alzado (he also ranks sixth in franchise history in sacks with 64.5). The other four guys were vital parts of their respective defenses and were the best in franchise history.
- Lyle Alzado
- Trevor Pryce
- Paul Smith
- Rubin Carter
- Derek Wolfe
There were some outstanding interior defensive linemen over the years. This list wasn’t as easy as it looked and I am sure there will be much variation going into this in the comments section. So who gets into your top five defensive lineman list?
