In the tenth of Thin Air’s series on considerations for the Broncos Ring of Fame is Barney Chavous (1973-1985).
Loading ...Barney Chavous has the third highest number of career starts with the Broncos, third only to John Elway and Tom Nalen. His vesting as a career Bronco is not in doubt. Chavous’s 13 seasons with the Broncos were entirely overlapped with that of defensive coordinator Joe Collier. As a result, Chavous became an important cog in the Orange Crush defense. However, at that time defensive linemen in the nascent 3-4 defense were not as visible as their teammates on that side of the ball.
This is reflected in the lack of statistical collection for someone like Chavous. For example, sacks were not an official stat until 1982. Nonetheless, late in his career Chavous still racked up a total of 23 sacks over his final years. A player like Chavous could benefit from a robust investigation of defensive contribution, such as what John Turney did with sacks. Here is Turney’s piece specifically on Chavous.