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The Broncos have just 64 days left until they take on the Ragin' Cajuns (not James Carville), so today we'll look at a numberless newbie who probably won't wear #64, but theoretically could—Derriyon Shaw
#64, Derriyon Shaw, True Freshman, STUD
Stats
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs
High School: Legacy High School, Las Vegas, NV
How'd he get to the Blue™?
Well, it helped that Shaw moved from SEC country closer to Bronco country. Shaw started his prep career at Georgia's Lanier High School, but made the trek to Vegas for his senior season, where he finished up at Legacy High School. That kind of cross-country move is never easy for a teen, but it placed him squarely in the west coast recruiting grounds and suddenly, he was being recruited from both coasts. Rated a 3-star by all major recruiting outlets, Shaw was named to the USA TODAY High School Sports' All-USA Nevada First Team, the NevadaPreps.com All-State Second Team, All-Region First Team and All-Southwest League First Team as senior after posting 48 total tackles (12 for-loss), 7 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles. As a junior at Lanier, Shaw had 61 total stops and 11 sacks and helped lead his team to a region title. Shaw ended up with at least 13 total offers, and besides his Bronco scholly, was offered full-rides to Arizona State, Cincinnati, Duke, Georgia State, Miami (OH), Nevada, North Carolina, SDSU, UNLV, Wake Forest, Washington, and WSU. Behold!
Nickname
"D-Shaw"
Worked for D-Law (Demarcus Lawrence)
Look-a-like
Omar Epps (and therefore, Mike Tomlin)
Career Highlights
Selected to USA TODAY High School Sports' All-USA Nevada First Team, to the NevadaPreps.com All-State Second Team, All-Region First Team and All-Southwest League First Team as a senior in 2015. Helped lead Lanier (GA) to a region title in 2014.
2016 Prospectus
Shaw is a stud and projects as a STUD at Boise State, so how's that for serendipity? For those unfamiliar with the term, the STUD position at Boise State is basically a LB/DE hybrid whose general charge is to just wreck stuff. If that's till not helping...Kamalei Correa played the position for the last 3 seasons...and played it quite well. Honestly, I see a bit of Correa's explosiveness in Shaw's highlight video (a few pixels up at the top of the page) and imagine that new DC Andy Avalos will have plenty of ways to use the youngster.
Shaw has a very quick first step, sheds blocks with relative ease and has the requisite high motor for the position. While he admittedly did not play much LB in high school, I think he shows the instincts needed for the hybrid role. The only other player currently listed at STUD on the Bronco roster is Gabe Perez and he's coming off a medical hardship year, so his productivity—while expected to be high—is still a bit nebulous. I think if Shaw comes along quickly in camp, he could fit into the STUD rotation this year. Remember that Perez played as a true frosh and made quite the impact...Shaw has a very similar ceiling and I think could be called into action ASAP. A good STUD makes the quarterback antsy to stay in the pocket and shuts down the edge on rush attacks—Shaw is going to be a great player for the Broncos sooner or later and I think it's safe to say it will be sooner than later.
Is he on Twitter?
I will be drafted in the NFL .
— 〰D. Shaw〰 (@_ShAww80) June 30, 2016
Point blank period!#Name.It.And.Caim.It!!
Yes, but he struggles with self-confidence.
Completely made up fact
Derriyon has an uncle named Rick that invented a pretty popular conveyance.