NFL Coordinator: Broncos' Dre Greenlaw is a 'Top 5 LB When Healthy'

Over the better part of the last decade, the Denver Broncos have been synonymous with defensive excellence. From the days of the No Fly Zone helping Denver win Super Bowl 50 to last season’s surprising top-five unit, led by Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II, the defense has left opponents scratching their heads in attempts to move the football and put up points.

Defense tends to be rather volatile year to year, so there have been some unfortunate stretches and down seasons compared to Denver's lofty standards. What has been rather consistent for the Broncos, though, is the strength of the defense being built on a deep and versatile pass rush backed by exceptional cornerback play.

On paper, if there has been an area where the Broncos’ defense has lacked star power, it has been in the linebacker room. That has a chance to change this season with the splashy offseason addition of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw. 

ESPN’s poll of league execs, coaches, and scouts, helmed by Jeremy Fowler, saw Greenlaw ranking No. 9 out of 10 top linebackers in the entire NFL. 

"Usually, a player coming off an injury-riddled season would not maintain his spot in the rankings. But Greenlaw's free agency told the story. Several league evaluators said he was the most exciting free agent, despite a torn Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII that cost him all but two games in 2024," Fowler wrote. "And when the Broncos signed him to a three-year, $31.5 million deal, the feeling of remorse out of San Francisco was real. 'One-million percent,' a team source said."

While it will be worth monitoring how Greenlaw plays now that he won’t have the consensus best linebacker in football in Fred Warner playing next to him, it’s not like he'll have a dramatic drop-off in quality of surrounding teammates going from San Francisco to Denver.

While not having a linebacker as talented as Warner next to him could shift the onus and put more on Greenlaw’s plate in some areas, playing behind a talented defensive front and having Patrick Surtain II on the outside could just as easily make many aspects of Greenlaw's purview simpler.

"He's a total savage," an NFL coordinator said of Greenlaw, via Fowler. "A top-five linebacker when healthy."

The key, as that NFL executive stated, will be whether Greenlaw can remain healthy. After not playing for nearly the entirety of 2024 and sustaining a quad injury this offseason, stalling his training, his range of outcomes this season could include competing to be the best linebacker in football to being a non-factor due to injury.

"He's got to stay healthy and re-prove it, but he's a badass, smart, strong, will knock the s--- out of you," an NFL defensive coach told Fowler. "I see how he stays hurt so much, because he plays with so much explosion."

If Greenlaw is healthy, though, he has a chance to be the best Broncos’ linebacker in nearly 20 years, dating back to the days of Al Wilson roaming the middle. That isn’t to take away from the play of many important linebackers for Denver over the years.

Danny Trevathan, Brandon Marshall, Todd Davis, Josey Jewell, and Alex Singleton have been or were important, steady presences in the middle of the field for Denver over the franchise’s recent history. However, it would be fair to say none possessed league-wide star power to be in the conversation of being one of the best linebackers in the NFL.

With the talent surrounding Greenlaw in Denver, there's a chance he turns in a career-best year and the Broncos’ defense finds a way to reach another level and evolve from their top unit last season. For the most part, it comes down to just one thing: can Greenlaw stay on the field and out of the trainer's room?

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If so, the tradition of defensive dominance will very likely live on in the Mile High City.