Derrick Harvey – Denver Broncos BT Profile

Name: Derrick Harvey Height, Weight: 6’5″, 268 Position: Defensive End Age, Experience: 25, 5 College: Florida

Defensive end Derrick Harvey was a promising prospect coming out of college in 2008. Winner of the BCS National Championship Game’s Defensive MVP Award the year before, Harvey opted not to come out for the 2007 NFL Draft (to the surprise of many) because, having only started playing football in his junior year, he felt he needed more time to develop. His patience paid dividends — Harvey amassed a team-high 8.5 sacks in his senior year despite being the focus of many an offensive line’s gameplan, and solid pre-draft workouts resulted in the Jacksonville Jaguars taking him eighth overall in the 2008 Draft. In Jacksonville, expectations were sky-high (as they should have been), but Harvey fell far short of them. His career-high in sacks came in his rookie year (3.5; he had 29 QB pressures that year), but he was unable to manufacture pressure over his next two seasons as a starter. He lost his starting job in 2010, and the Jaguars cut ties in 2011; most consider him one of the franchise’s largest draft busts. The Broncos signed him to their roster on August 1st.

2011 Analysis: Harvey was a rotational player for the Broncos but was inactive more often than not. He played in five games for the Broncos: four before the bye, when Elvis Dumervil was hurting, and once more against the Vikings. He tallied four tackles in those five appearances.

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent in 2012

2012 Outlook: The addition of Jack Del Rio to the Broncos’ coaching staff may increase the chances the Broncos work to retain Harvey. He totaled 88 tackles and eight sacks in his three years in Jacksonville, and while Del Rio likely had input in cutting Harvey in 2011, he and the Broncos may be more willing to re-sign him assuming he comes cheap. And he would.

As always, we invite you, the readers, to participate. Should the Broncos sign Harvey to a new contract, or have they kicked the tires enough on this Jaguar?

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