The Denver Broncos had a huge hole to fill when Malik Jackson took off in free agency. Vance Walker was slated to fill it. That’s no longer possible, because the big defensive end will now likely miss the entire 2016 season with a torn ACL suffered during practice on Monday.
Defensive end Vance Walker is expected to miss the season.
📰 https://t.co/1kjubLPMCO#BroncosCamp pic.twitter.com/7CRgxb1VzV
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 15, 2016
Head coach Gary Kubiak issued the following statement, via the team’s website:
“We think the world of Vance and he was having a great camp,” Kubiak said. “We’ll support him through his recovery, and he’ll come back stronger than ever.”
Walker, 29, played for the Atlanta Hawks, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs the past six years before joining Denver as a free agent this past offseason.
Left with a tremendous deficiency at defensive end, it’s now going to be up to former Houston Texans lineman Jared Crick to fill the gap. A fourth-round pick out of Nebraska in 2012, he has started 32 games in four years, tallying 81 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
Another player who could now have an opportunity to fill the void is second-round rookie Adam Gotsis out of Georgia Tech.