Film Room: LB Justin Hollins Was A Liability For Broncos In Week 4 But Can Grow

The film from Week 4 revealed a cringe-worthy performance from Broncos' rookie LB Justin Hollins. Can he grow from it?

Week 4 vs. Jacksonville was a rough outing for Denver Broncos' rookie linebacker Justin Hollins. Hollins was thrust into primary action after Josey Jewell left the game with a nagging hamstring injury. 

Struggles were to be expected from Hollins, considering he's a rookie and has been learning two different positions and roles in the defense since arriving as a fifth-round pick out of Oregon. Despite how rough it was, it was a valuable experience that he has to build upon going forward. 

The reps for Hollins are going to continue to be high, but he may see them more as an edge rusher with Bradley Chubb out for the year. Denver needs to see rapid improvement from him because the Broncos can’t go forward with Hollins playing like he did against the Jaguars. 

His play in coverage was really poor, and he filled the wrong gaps against the run. It was clear he wasn’t fully up to speed, or comfortable with playing off-ball instead of edge.
Despite how bad he was, Hollins can grow from this. 

What matters is that he puts the work in to do just that. After breaking down Hollins' film, there were many plays to analyze, and some of them were positive. However, there are three negative ones that really stood out as areas that he has to fix, and rapidly.

Play 1: 2:35 | Second Quarter 

Situation: 3rd-&-7

This was one of the few somewhat positive plays from Hollins, but this could have been a lot better from the rookie. Hollins is lined up on the tight end, and takes his man on down the field. There is good contact, and he doesn’t let the TE just run his route cleanly. There is pressure on the quarterback, which forces an errant throw. The ball hits Hollins and falls incomplete. 

Hollins does a good job covering this route, until the TE cuts it back. The rookie shows he doesn’t have great change-of-direction ability, which is common for linebackers. Then he shows poor reaction time as the ball bounces off the TE and is right there for an interception. 

This is a play great players make as it happens so fast, but it would have been huge if Hollins had managed to walk away with the interception. It would have boosted his confidence and given the Broncos tremendous momentum.

Play 2: 0:39 | Second Quarter | Week 5

Situation: 2nd-&-2

This is a very similar play to the one above. Hollins has the TE in the slot and takes him in coverage. He doesn’t engage, and lets the TE run a clean route. Again we see a slow reaction time and failure to read the throw. The Broncos were in zone coverage, but the TE was there in Hollins' zone, and he should have come up and played him tighter. 

You can’t let receivers catch it cleanly when you can do something about it. Hollins could have, but was too slow to react and get in position to do so. He also wasn’t required to make a tackle, as the TE is going to the ground as he catches the ball. 

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Play 3: 1:16 | Third Quarter

Situation: 2nd-&-16

Welcome to the NFL, rookie. No play in this game says that more than this one as it regards Hollins. To be fair, this is an amazing play design that the Jaguars were able to execute cleanly to get the touchdown. 

When Gardner Minshew pumps left, the defense barely moves. It is when he flips his body and pumps it right that everyone, including Hollins, jumps big time to the right. As this is going on, the Jaguars' TE is slipping between the linebackers with plenty of space in front of him. 

Hollins was supposed to have the TE in coverage, and this is thrown right to his zone. However, because of biting on the second pump so badly, the TE is wide open. Lesson learned for Hollins — don’t overreact, be patient and read the play. If he just slowed down a moment, he would have been able to read the leaking TE and be in a better position in coverage. 

The Takeaway

The rookie played a really bad game, which was expected. Justin Hollins is versatile and as a result, has been asked to learn two positions and multiple roles in this defense. 

This was his first serious playing time this season, so it isn’t surprising Hollins played terribly. However, he needs to take this and grow from this game. 

Denver needs Hollins to step it up, and do so quickly. This game was his 'welcome to the NFL' moment, now grow from it. 

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.