Relax football fans, Eddie Yarbrough is sticking with football.
After a brief dalliance with Wiffle Ball during his recent return to Aurora, the affable former Grandview star is headed back to NFL training camp with the Buffalo Bills.
Yarbrough got the reality check from the young sons of his former linebackers coach with the Wolves, Wes Smock, who dashed his Wiffle Ball dreams with two sound beatings.
“They are very, very good,” Yarbrough said with a grin. “They are so good to the point where after the first time, I said ‘I won’t be beaten again.’ I went over there again after I’d trained, looked at some Wiffle Ball strategies and watched some videos on YouTube.
“They beat me handily the second time, so I guess I’ll have to stick to football.”
Football is definitely where Yarbrough, 24, belongs and thrives.
After a fantastic prep career for coach John Schultz’s Wolves, the defensive end went on to become the University of Wyoming’s all-time leader in tackles for loss. He wasn’t taken in the 2016 NFL draft, but got a storybook chance to begin his pro career when he signed with the hometown Denver Broncos as a free agent.
Yarbrough spent the entire preseason with the Broncos before he was cut on Sept. 2, 2016. Despite the end result, Yarbrough loved the community support he got with Denver and couldn’t have had better tutalage than he got from DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller.
“You can’t pay to have two future Hall of Famers teaching you how to rush an edge, how to set an edge,” Yarbrough said. “The things that DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller taught me are invaluable. You can’t put a price on that.
“The way they approach the game and the moves they taught me have been paying dividends for me in OTAs.”
Yarbrough is using what he learned in his new stop with Buffalo, which brought him in on a one-year deal in April. The Bills’ defensive line coach, Mike Waufle, had interest in him when he was with the Los Angeles Rams last season.
Like most NFL teams, the Bills don’t release a depth chart until later in training camp, but Yarbrough is one of eight defensive ends on the roster at the start of camp July 27 in Pittsford, New York.
Besides having Waufle’s eye already, the presence of a new head coach in Sean McDermott with a whole new staff means a fresh slate for all players and none of Buffalo’s six 2017 draft picks is a defensive end. All of those things boost Yarbrough’s chances to make the final roster.
The 6-foot-3, 252-pounder hopes he gets to stick around with the Bills, the team that drafted his uncle — Ray Jackson — in 1996. Yarbrough has discovered the “nooks and crannies” of the town pointed out by Jackson and has developed a slight addiction to the chicken wings the region is known for.
“I love Buffalo, it’s like a big, little small town,” he said. “It has a great family atmosphere, which is something I can appreciate.”
Yarbrough feels great heading to camp after working out with renowned Colorado trainer Loren Landow. He’s hoping to be on the Bills’ roster when they play host to the Broncos in Week 4 of the upcoming season.
No fewer than four former Grandview players will be in training camps, including Yarbrough’s Wyoming teammate Tanner Gentry, a wide receiver who has been turning heads with the Chicago Bears in the early going.
Tight end Evan Baylis came out of Oregon and signed with the Houston Texans, while nose tackle Mike Pennel is in camp with the New York Jets after spending two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
