Vance Joseph was honest. When Dondrea Tillman arrived at Broncos’ training camp in July, the defensive coordinator didn’t know what to expect from the 26-year-old outside linebacker the team had signed out of the United Football League.
Tillman, at 6-foot-3 and weighing 270 pounds, has all the physical traits a team would look for in a pass rusher. But Joseph was uncertain about his role in Denver’s defense. Denver had drafted Jonah Elliss in the third round while Baron Browning was still on the roster.
“I knew he was a big guy who can run,” Joseph said.
Like most of Denver’s defensive players, there’s a fire burning within Tillman. They play with chips on their shoulders because they have been overlooked throughout their football careers. The unit consists of 11 players taken on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, plus seven undrafted free agents.
Each has his own underdog story. Tillman’s is a winding path to the NFL. After receiving no Division I offers out of high school, he played at Indiana University of Pennsylvania — a Division II school — for four seasons before launching his pro career with the Birmingham Stallions, one of eight teams in the UFL.
Once he signed with the Broncos, Tillman used that internal fire to carve out a role. Eleven games into his NFL career, he has proved to be a steady presence in Denver’s front seven, totaling five sacks and 22 tackles — a level of production the Broncos’ coaching staff didn’t anticipate.
“He’s certainly been a big plus,” head coach Sean Payton said. “He’s given us physicality. He works his tail off and he works at it. When you can get a player like that, maybe you weren’t counting on, that’s a good sign.”
IUP coach Paul Tortorella always knew Tillman was destined for big things. When Tortorella recruited Tillman out of Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, Va., he saw someone with the body type of a Division I athlete — but raw.
Tortorella added Tillman to his program with the expectation that he would develop into a solid player within two or three years of his collegiate career.
He was right.
As a sophomore, Tillman recorded 8.5 sacks and 51 tackles. During his junior season in 2018, his sack total increased to 12.5. In 48 career games at IUP, Tillman had 30 sacks, 174 tackles and seven forced fumbles.
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“I continued to say I couldn’t believe someone didn’t offer him in Division I,” Tortorella told The Denver Post. “He was very coachable. His football IQ improved tremendously.”
In March 2022, the Stallions drafted Tillman in the third supplemental round of the USFL Draft. (The league became the UFL in 2024 after merging with the XFL.)
During Tillman’s third season with the Stallions, he recorded 27 tackles and 3.5 sacks and helped them defeat the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL championship game. Tillman had three tackles and a pass breakup in the win.
Despite Tillman’s success in the UFL, he had still yearned to play in the NFL. Tillman told The Post he wanted to jump to the league in previous years but didn’t have good representation to help him navigate the process. He said he got a new agent and felt things began to work in his favor.
In June, Tillman signed with the Broncos — the only team to contact him during the summer, he said.
“It’s like a guy in baseball having a great career in the minor leagues and finally getting his shot,” Tortorella said.
Tillman flashed during training camp but was waived during the roster cutdown in late August before signing to the practice squad.
When right tackle Mike McGlinchey was placed on injured reserve, Tillman was promoted to the active roster and took advantage of the opportunity right away. In his season debut against Tampa Bay in Week 3, Tillman logged two sacks in the 26-7 win on the road. He is one of four Bronco players to record at least two sacks in a game this season.
In 133 pass rush snaps, Tillman has 20 pressures and a pressure rate of 15%, according to Next Gen Stats.
“You have young guys who can rush the passer (but) can’t finish. (Tillman) is a finisher,” Joseph said.
Joseph called Tillman the “perfect fourth” outside linebacker for the Broncos this season. Denver’s edge rusher room, featuring first-time Pro Bowler Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Elliss and Tillman, has been instrumental in the team’s efforts to set the franchise record for most sacks in a season with 58.
They are also first in the league in pressures (255) and third in pressure rate (37.2%) entering the final week of the regular season.
Tillman’s impact in the league’s best pass-rushing unit hasn’t caught him by surprise. He always believed he belonged in the NFL. He just needed the opportunity.
“I knew what my soul told me. I just had to work for it,” Tillman said. “I’m good enough to play here.”
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