Last week, Shaquil Barrett made his first start in the NFL and he lit up the stat line. He had nine combined tackles, three of those for a loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery. He simply changed the game when he hit Josh McCown and it came at a time when Ware was unable to play. For many, that was the first time they noticed Barrett in orange and blue, but he has been turning heads for some time now.
“I first saw it last year when he first got here. Just sitting there talking to him, I was just trying to coach up some of the young guys. I was like, ‘Hey, this right here, this is unique. You look like a pass rusher right here.’ He just kept building and building. I was like man, he’s just natural at it,” Von Miller said Tuesday. “Its kind of like the exact same fairy tale story that you’ve got with Chris [Harris Jr.] and all these other free agent guys. They come in, they work, special teams, preseason and then boom, they’re the guy now.”
Barrett and fellow teammate Shane Ray excelled in the preseason and their opportunities to contribute in the regular season have grown. Now six weeks into the season, Barrett is certainly making a name for himself. Though six games, he has 3.5 sacks, five tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles on defense. He has also been superb on special teams, adding another forced fumble and leads the team in tackles with five. He has played so well that he has broken into the top-ten 3-4 outside linebackers on PFF, coming in at no. 10, ahead of names like Aldon Smith, Brian Orakpo and Tamba Hali.
Barrett was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 but didn’t get drafted. He signed with the Broncos as a college free agent on May 16, 2014 and spent the majority of his rookie season on the practice squad. His increased playing time and bigger role has come as a shock to him but he has mentally prepared himself for the task at hand among such an elite group.
“I didn’t foresee this at all because there was pretty stiff competition coming into the season and I just got an opportunity and ran with it. I didn’t see it shaping out like this. All our guys, ones or twos, we all go out there ready to work and go out and practice hard every day. There is no big difference between the ones and twos. Everybody on this defense is a playmaker,” he said just days before his first NFL start.
It’s safe to say that he has proven himself to the coaching staff and now team’s will not overlook the “backup” on the edge of the elite Denver defense.
