CB Ja’Quan McMillian, S P.J. Locke emerging as dangerous blitzers and playmakers in the secondary

Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph has led the Broncos’ defense to a complete defensive turnaround over the past seven games — Denver hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 22 points in the span — and he highlighted two of the Broncos’ unheralded defensive backs that have been crucial to the unit’s strides.

In their second and fourth seasons, respectively, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian and safety P.J. Locke have played major roles in the Broncos’ upticks in sacks and turnovers. Locke’s interception against Green Bay and strip-sack against Cleveland sealed two of the Broncos’ wins, and McMillian registered three straight games with a takeaway from Weeks 8-11. Both defensive backs also registered a sack against the Houston Texans in Week 13.

Joseph said the players’ versatility and explosive play in the pass-rush has made Denver’s defense even more dangerous.

“Gameplans change, but [P.J. has] been a good blitzer for us and so is [Ja’Quan at] nickel,” Joseph said after practice on Thursday. “To have two defensive backs who can blitz cleanly and finish on quarterbacks and on running backs has been good for our defense.”

Locke made his presence felt in the Houston backfield, recording a pair of tackles for a loss and reaching Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud in just 2.73 seconds on his sack — the fastest sack by any player in Week 13, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Joseph said speed and timing have been the biggest reasons behind Locke’s success as a blitzer.

“[P.J. has] been an exceptional blitzer for us in the last couple weeks,” Joseph said. “You never know if guys are going to be good blitzers until they do it live. The grass here [in practice] is kind of a controlled environment with cadences and those things. Some guys have a knack for timing and a knack for gaining speed quickly and making left and right turns quickly. He has that knack. He hits his target, and he doesn’t…