Versatile Mecklenburg Leads Bronco Defense

Opponents seldom know from play to play where Karl Mecklenburg is going to be in Denver’s defensive alignment. More often than not, it’s where the offense wants to go.

The Broncos’ All-Pro linebacker plays seven different positions on defense. That creates havoc for opponents’ blocking schemes.

“The first thing we have to do is try and figure out where Mecklenburg and (defensive lineman Rulon) Jones are,” said Cleveland Coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose Browns face the Broncos for the AFC championship Sunday. “Joe (Collier, Broncos assistant head coach and defensive coordinator) puts them everywhere up and down the line of scrimmage.”

Mecklenburg, a fourth-year pro out of the University of Minnesota, was one of the NFL’s biggest success stories in 1985. Although he did not become a starter until the 10th game of the season, he finished with 13 sacks and was the AFC’s leading tackler in the Pro Bowl.

His stats dropped slightly this season--9 1/2 sacks and 127 tackles, finishing second on the team in both categories--but his level of play did not. He was named a Pro Bowl starter for the second consecutive year.

“He played about the same as he has in the past--which is very good,” Collier said.

Amid pro football’s computer schemes and specialization, Mecklenburg remains a throwback to a different era where leather-helmeted predecessors played both offense and defense.

While most of his contemporaries are mastering the intricacies of one position, Mecklenburg has learned every defensive position outside of the secondary.

Mecklenburg’s emergence as an NFL star has revolutionized Denver’s defense. He is so important to the Broncos that one of their basic defensive schemes is named the Gopher, the nickname of his alma mater.

In a 4-3 formation, Mecklenburg lines up at middle linebacker. On instructions from the sidelines, he jumps to left end, nose tackle, or right end, or stays where he is. Whenever he shifts, his teammates have to shift with him.

“The problem (for the opponent) is, when you have blocking combinations, and you don’t know if he is a lineman or a ‘backer,’ there will be a blown assignment,” Broncos linebacker coach Myrel Moore said.

Of the seven positions he normally plays, Mecklenburg said he prefers inside linebacker, because he believes he is most physically suited for it. He also enjoys defensive end, where he can unleash the pass rush.

His least favorite position, he says, is nose tackle, the place he started his pro football career.

“You’re always getting double-teamed and you never know where they’re coming from,” he said. “Physically, it’s probably the toughest position in football.”

Although his versatility has been limited to the defense, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said Mecklenburg could be a decent tight end, fullback or guard if he had to.

Which is high praise for someone who almost didn’t make the team as a rookie.

Mecklenburg played two years at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., before transferring to Minnesota, where he walked on as a defensive lineman.

The Broncos made Mecklenburg their 12th-round draft choice in 1983, but he was unimpressive in training camp.

“I was a bad nose guard and they didn’t need a bad nose guard,” he said.

The Broncos switched him to defensive end, but at 6-3, 235 pounds, he was too small.

“He was out of here,” Moore said. “Then the last preseason game he did well on special teams and had two sacks. Otherwise he would have been gone.”

Broncos coaches converted him to linebacker in 1984 and he made an immediate impact, with seven sacks, high among linebackers, and two interceptions.

“God has given me some talents I didn’t even know I had until the coaches here started putting me in positions to use them,” Mecklenburg said. “I’m just lucky to be put in this situation. I could have come in somewhere and been in training camp and had them say, ‘Well, you tried to play nose guard and didn’t do real good. You’re cut.’ That’s it. End of football career.”