John Elway Explains Why Broncos Re-Acquired Dekoda Watson In Draft Deal
By Zack Kelberman
DENVER (247 SPORTS) - Broncos Country was greeted to a bit of random breaking news Saturday, when the team sent a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for veteran linebacker Dekoda Watson. Watson had a one-and-done stint in Denver, spending the 2016 season with the organization before San Francisco signed him to a three-year free-agent deal.
He is a solid but unspectacular defender who most had forgotten, and his return spans three coaching regimes (Gary Kubiak, Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio).
Nobody — and I mean nobody — pegged Watson's reunion as part of Denver's 2019 draft plans. But he, evidently, has a big fan in the front office.
"We're excited about having Dekoda back," general manager John Elway said in his post-draft press conference Saturday evening. "We liked him when he was here [before] he left. We though that he could bring some outside pass rush. He led us in special-teams tackles a couple of years ago. We just thought it was an opportunity to bring him back so we took advantage of that."
A 2010 seventh-round pick of the Jaguars, Watson didn't have a defensive impact for the Broncos, logging just 17 tackles and a sack across 43 snaps. But he made a lasting impression on special teams, where he led the club with 11 stops and earned the respect of his peers.
Watson, 31, is listed as an outside linebacker, but he will be asked to kick inside at times after Denver surprisingly did not draft a true off-ball 'backer. The closest they came was fifth-round selection Justin Hollins, a natural edge rusher.
Blame it on the board.
"It just didn't fall that way," Elway admitted. "We had opportunities but the direction that we went, we felt that we were better off that way. By the time we got into—it was just different choices that you make. We thought Justin [Hollins] could play inside or outside and that's when we talk about inside backer. ... Again, with Justin, with the flexibility and the versatility that he has with him going inside as well as outside, we kind of felt like we hit all the spots the best we could."
So, the depth chart remains unchanged: Todd Davis and Josey Jewell are the projected ILB starters, with a slew of competitors pushing for reps. In listing the group, Fangio — a football lifer who cut his teeth coaching linebackers — curiously omitted Watson.
"Right now we've got [ILB] Josey [Jewell] and [ILB] Todd [Davis] working, and we've got [LB] A.J. (Alexander Johnson) and [ILB] K.B.(Keishawn Bierria) there also," he said. "We'll take a look at [LB] Justin [Hollins] there. I'm sure we'll sign an undrafted free agent or two. It's very early in the process and we'll see how it shakes out."
