Broncos Defensive Lineman Has Some Big Shoes To Fill

The Denver Broncos locked up most of their key players, but the one they let go is a big one. John Franklin Myers made a lot of big plays for the Broncos, and according to Luca Evans of the Denver Post the defense “thrived on his and All-Pro Zach Allen’s symbiotic relationship.”

The Broncos have several candidates to replace Myers’ production, and one is Sai’vion Jones. The others are reserve Eyioma Uwazuike and rookie Tyler Onyedim, and coach Sean Payton is rather democratic about who steps up. 

“With the way we’re rotating those guys — if it happens to be one individual when training camp comes, great,” head coach Sean Payton said in June, when he was asked about replacing Franklin-Myers’ snaps. “If it happens to be the sum total of the group, so be it.”

Jones played just 39 snaps as a rookie last year, according to Evans, but that doesn’t mean the Broncos don’t believe in him. GM George Paton said Jones would become “a player” back in January, and his defensive line coach, Jamar Cain, also believes in his development process. 

“He’s developed at the right pace for us,” Broncos defensive-line coach Jamar Cain said last September. “He’s doing everything we ask him to do. But being a quiet kid, sometimes you forget he’s there. Show up. Let us know that you’re there. Let us know that you’re doing your job. And he is.”

Jones grew up in Vacherie, LA, which has a total population of just over 5,000 people. He went to LSU, and according to Evans, his mother, Sennecca, would get a call from Cain, who was then LSU’s defensive line coach, whenver Sai’vion started slipping. 

Now Jones hears a different mantra from Cain. It would be normal for Jones to think he’s a link in a chain as he awaits his opportunity to step up, but that’s not the message Cain has been sending.

“Be a player,” Cain would tell him at LSU when Jones finished 16th in defensive snaps but still had the third-most sacks on the team. “I said, ‘You’re better than [the player ahead of him] — go take his job. Like, this is on you. Don’t be happy being a backup. And then that’s when he started taking off.”

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is still juggling lineman, and he mentioned that Jones could take over the third-down, pass-rushing role if he’s ready. It’s a big ask, but the Broncos believe that Jones has the speed, strength and athleticism to potentially get it done.