When Von Miller and Vic Beasley said that they wanted to train together in the off-season, a lot of quarterbacks probably said "I don't need this" and went on to do something else with their day that was less depressing than the news. Well guess what quarterbacks, it gets worse! Miller had a ton of talent present at his mini-mini-camp, including the likes of Seahawks' DEs Cliff Avril & Cassius Marsh, Raiders' OLB Khalil Mack, Giants' OLB Olivier Vernon, 49ers' OLB Arik Armstead, Cowboys' DE Damontre Moore and Miller's teammate, Broncos' OLB Shane Ray. Also in attendance was Chuck Smith, a former All-Pro defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons.
Miller, Beasley, Avril and Mack had 51.5 sacks between them last season. The camp was by invitation of Miller only, so Miller clearly recognizes players like Marsh and Armstead as budding stars, and Vernon, who just got his super deal from the Giants in 2016. He had 8.5 sacks on an impressive Giants' defense last season. Ray, of course, is Miller's teammate, and with the retirement of DeMarcus Ware he's finally primed to step into the spotlight.
Camps like theses aren't jsut about honing skills, they're about sharing knowledge. Specifically, knowledge on how to break a quarterback's will. The established players at the camp know a thing or 10 about how to do that, and younger players like Marsh and Armstead can really benefit from what they know. As they try to take the next step toward becoming great players, looking for little changes in their game that reflects what they've learned should be an interesting exercise.