[Quesadilla Joe]

Renck: Von Miller devours lineman, makes Broncos camp look easy

Von Miller makes football look too easy.

It's not, of course. The sport features offenses with play calls longer than a Shakespearean sonnet. Defenses boast endless disguises, creating mental sandtraps for quarterbacks.

Then Miller stands across the line, and it becomes a simple game. He's faster, stronger and more talented than those looking back at him. Miller vs. an offensive lineman. It's the greatest mismatch since Little Red Riding Hood vs. the Wolf.

"I will be a better tackle because of practicing against him," said Broncos starting right tackle Ryan Harris. "To his credit, he practices hard. A guy like that could take a day off, a week off, heck, he could take the whole camp off, but he brings it everyday. Man, '58' what can't you say about that guy."

Training camp quickly becomes a grind. With Miller, you can practically hear the Beach Boys' "Kokomo" playing everywhere he goes. Work is his vacation. Twenty months removed from anterior cruciate ligament surgery on his right knee, he is dominating in practice with a butcher's smile.

"I am just having fun. Playing football is what I do best, so when I am out here, I should be happy. I should love coming to practice," Miller said. "People shouldn't have to drag me out to practice just to do something I do better than anything I do in life."

Watching Miller over the past week was akin to watching Ken Griffey Jr. show up for a backyard Wiffle Ball game. He demonstrated burst and strength uncommon in a league decorated with athletic freaks. It requires no leap of faith to see Miller becoming the league's highest-paid defensive player after this season. He will cash in either through the franchise tag or a longterm deal.

From healing and maturing, Miller boasts freedom and confidence. He shed the brace, follows a strict diet and features a larger repertoire of moves, not counting his smooth dance steps to Silento's "Watch Me" before Friday's practice.

"Most guys have like two that might work," Harris said. "He has like eight. You don't know what he's going to do next."

A 20-sack season, defensive player of the year candidate, the possibilities seem endless for Miller. At 26, he enters his prime with a clear head and open path to superstardom. Two years of clean tests and a revamped NFL policy discharged Miller from the league's drug program. He is no longer subject to multiple tests per week. And a year suspension for a mistake no longer hangs over his head.

A new defense predicated on pressure also plays into Miller's strengths. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will use Miller like Randy Johnson used his slider — as the ultimate wipeout weapon. Last year, health was the focus with Miller. This summer, it's havoc.

At a recent practice, he blistered a lineman in one-on-ones then jogged straight into an 11-on11 drill and reached the quarterback. On another occasion, he raced by a lineman and celebrated by running into the locker room entrance like Bo Jackson disappearing into the tunnel at the Kingdome in 1987.

Von is Von again. Hide the linemen and children.

"Von just makes the game look easy. You can see that from running tackles over, running around the corner, acting like the old Von," Pro Bowler DeMarcus Ware said. "After his surgery, he really sort of reinvented himself. You can see it. It has carried over. He's rolling."

http://www.denverpost.com/renck/ci_2...camp-look-easy

He's Baaaack!