The Broncos may have a new secret weapon up front

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bring out the potatoes, onions, carrots and, most importantly, the meat because there’s a new big man in town.

With more notable free agent acquisitions of Domata Peko and Zach Kerr along the defensive line earlier in the offseason, another addition to this unit has widely gone unnoticed outside of the UCHealth Training Center — the signing of undrafted rookie free agent Tyrique Jarrett.

While Jarrett may not be garnering the proper attention outside of the team’s facility, his presence has gone anything but unnoticed within the building, and for good reason, too.

“We are chomping at the bit right now. Definitely looking at them excited,” linebacker Brandon Marshall said about the additions on the defensive line. “They brought in a rookie from Pittsburgh, he is 350 pounds, Tyrique. I’m excited.”

Weighing in at an official mark of 335 pounds — likely after a workout with only a jockstrap on — Jarrett is hard to miss, and he’s already catching eyes and turning heads among veteran teammates.

“You see the smile on my face? I love it. I like the big boys we brought in,” linebacker Todd David said. “We even brought in another defensive tackle, a young guy, 350 pounds. I love those big boys in the middle to help us stuff the run and definitely do a good job in the middle.”

After regressing from the third-best run defense in the league in 2015 to fifth-worst in 2016, the Broncos hope the additional weight along the defensive front will limit the opposing team’s run game. At his incredibly large stature, Jarrett reminds Marshall of a former Bronco who officially weighed 354 pounds and had the nickname “Pot Roast.”

“Me and Todd call him ‘Pot Roast Jr.’” Marshall said comping Jarrett to Terrance Knighton. “Hopefully he can live up to that because when Terrance Knighton was in there I remember one time he told me when we were playing the Bills he said, ‘look man, when you see me in front of you just go make a play.’ He took up a double team and sat there for three seconds and I just made the play. I’m like ‘man that’s what I’m talking about.’ So hopefully he can do that.”

During Knighton’s two seasons in Denver, he did more to help the run defense than just that one play, too. Starting in all 32 regular season games in 2013 and 2014 for the Broncos, he helped propel the team to the eighth-best run defense in 2013 and then to the second-best in 2014 — only allowing 79.8 rushing yards per game.

“I definitely love the nose tackles. There as key to us as the offensive line is to the running back,” Davis explained. “I’ve always dreamed of us going to the Super Bowl and being able to buy our whole defensive line something and our nose tackle something because they are so influential and so key to what we do in the running game and the passing game.”

For Marshall, the smell of another potential pot roast brewing is mouthwatering for what he, and his fellow linebackers, can accomplish.

“I tell my linebacking group ‘LBs we make all of the plays, that’s what we are supposed to do,’” he said. “Linebackers are supposed to lead the team in tackles, we are supposed to be the playmakers on defense, so that’s something we need to get back to.”

While a belly isn’t all that matters when it comes to stuffing the run, “Pot Roast” certainly showed that it helps. The Broncos are hoping that “Pot Roast Jr.” tastes just as good on the field as he looks off of it.