Bradley Roby gives Broncos’ D confidence despite offseason losses

7:32 AM ET

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Look, Wade Phillips has heard all of the chatter about how free agency has gone for the Denver Broncos this offseason.

The team’s defensive coordinator, as he continues into his fourth decade in the NFL, has heard how the Broncos’ defense can’t possibly return to its form of 2015 when the unit led the league in most major categories and powered a Super Bowl champion. Because, the narrative has gone, defensive end Malik Jackson and linebacker Danny Trevathan signed in Jacksonville and Chicago, respectively, in free agency.

It’s just that Phillips doesn’t do the math the same way as others — and cornerback Bradley Roby is a big reason why.

Bradley Roby, No. 29, has provided the Broncos’ elite pass defense with depth and steady production in his first two NFL seasons. Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images

“We lost two guys — two out of 11, really 12 if you count Roby since he started most of the season,’’ Phillips said. “Then in our dime defense we really lost one guy — one starter in Malik. … We play dime 40 percent of the time. In our base defense we lost two and in the other one, we lost one. We feel good about the guys we have.’’

And the Broncos have always felt good about Roby, the 31st pick of the 2014 draft, in that mix. They’ve treated Roby like he is a starter, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s had two seasons with at least 40 tackles despite the fact that he finds himself behind two Pro Bowl cornerbacks in Aqib Talib …

continue reading in source espn.go.com