ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The second to last day of the Denver Broncos offseason program saw a very intriguing matchup: Two first round picks. The face of the franchise vs. the future of the frontline. Von Miller vs. Garett Bolles.
Two very interesting developments came out of that matchup. The first being that Bolles held his own, far from embarrassed by one of the league’s best, the second being that when Miller did get the best of him, he took his time to help educate the young lineman on why he got the best of him.
It was a welcome sight to see for anyone invested in the Broncos, the team’s best player going out of his way to help improve their latest big investment. A member of the vaunted defense going out of their way to help a member of the upstart offense.
After some inquiry, Miller revealed that he has taken a bit of a liking to the new guy. On Wednesday, at the Von Miller Pro Camp, the Super Bowl 50 MVP explained how that came about.
“It just happened,” Miller explained. “I texted him on draft day, he texted me back and then he called me, and we talked for a second. Right when I saw him I just saw myself in him. I saw the goofy kid that asks a lot of questions. That’s all I did when [former Bronco Elvis Dumervil] was here; we had “Doom’ and DJ [Williams] and [Brian] Dawkins and Champ [Bailey] and all of those guys. The same stuff he’s doing with us is the same stuff I was doing with those guys. I asked all types of questions; I just wanted to be great.”
“I think that thirst for knowledge and that thirst for greatness leads to greatness,” he added. “It definitely helped with some of my success, and I see some of the same stuff I see in Bolles in myself; his humor is different just like my humor is different, you see him run out on the field all goofy and stuff. I love that guy, man. Bolles, that’s my guy, he’s gonna be good.”
If you’re a Broncos fan, that is the stuff you want to hear about your first-round pick. Everything you heard about Bolles’ desire appears to be shining in front of his teammates.
Even better news, Bolles isn’t the only newcomer that Von is high on.
“We have a lot of rookies that are going to help us win games,” he explained. “I think Isaiah [McKenzie] is going to make a lot of great plays for us, that’s what we’ve been missing is a big time return man, he’s dynamic, he’s going to be able to do a lot of great stuff for us. The rookies really fit into some of our weaknesses that we had last season.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing Chad Kelly get in there and do some great stuff,” he later added when talking quarterbacks. “He’s a great guy; he’s a great fixture in our locker room.”
The future is bright, according to the present.
