ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It might be time for Denver Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan to invest in alternative fuels.

Because to this point, for the most part, Trevathan has powered himself through the beginning stages of his NFL career by igniting the slights, doubts, criticisms and question marks people have put next to his name and turning them into desire and production.

"I always dream big. I’m not usually on people’s radar, you know, but I always dream big," Trevathan said. “People can’t control your dreams. Those are all yours, man, so I try to find a way to get myself in the mixture and find a way to get myself on top. That’s always my mentality with me, showcase things they said I couldn’t do."

Danny Trevathan showed last season that he can be an asset when dropping into pass coverage. Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images

Still, after he finished as the leading tackler on a Super Bowl team last season, the list of things people think Trevathan can’t do is shrinking. He was, in his second season, the defense’s most consistent player in 2012, the kind of every-down linebacker that Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway wants in the mix.

That’s a long way from the undersized linebacker the Broncos grabbed in the sixth round of the 2013 draft with the idea that Trevathan had the instincts and ability in the high-powered Southeastern Conference to have a chance to play on special teams.

Ah, but that’s where the "dream big" part comes in for Trevathan. Let him get his foot in the door, and he wants to come inside to find a seat.

After playing in every game and finishing with 30 tackles as a rookie, Trevathan had designs on more. He latched onto a starting job at weakside linebacker last summer, and he didn’t let go.

"I think last year he just came here with a totally different mentality," Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. “Got himself ready to be bigger, faster, better prepared, more focused and ready to have the kind of year he had. You saw the natural instinct right away when he was a rookie, but he needed to grow, he needed to get stronger. Last year he came back with the intention to keep his weight up, and he did. Once he does that part, we can take some of that great instinct that we see and develop it."

So when LB Von Miller was suspended for six games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, when the Broncos couldn’t decide what to do at middle linebacker and eventually moved Wesley Woodyard into the spot, when injuries started to erode the plan the Broncos had on the defensive drawing board last season, Trevathan just kept churning.

There was the interception return for a near touchdown in the regular-season opener -- only a young-guy-loses-his-mind-for-a-moment dropped ball to celebrate too early kept it from being a score -- and the 12-tackle game against the New England Patriots and the 12-tackle game in the blowout loss in the Super Bowl.

When all was said and done, Trevathan led the team in tackles with 134 and, along with cornerback Chris Harris Jr. and defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, was one of the team's best week-in, week-out performers on defense. Trevathan proved himself to be physical enough to work out of the base defense and athletic enough to drop into coverage when the Broncos go to their specialty looks.

Through the team's offseason workouts thus far, Trevathan has carried himself like a player who believes he is still ascending on the developmental curve.

And the Broncos, too, expect to see even more from Trevathan this time around.

"And that’s what is happening; his confidence now is soaring and I think he’s ready to have a big year for us," Del Rio said.

Pro Bowl? Team captain? More playoff wins? Trevathan doesn’t leave anything off the "dream big" list.

"I like going above and beyond the expectations people have for me," Trevathan said. “I’m never the type of person to let the other stuff get me big-headed, because as soon as you mess up, a lot of those people are going to go over to the other side of the fence with you. So just be sure of what you’re doing, be sure of yourself; you can’t let what other people say change how you carry yourself, how you handle yourself. Little kids watching you, be great, work hard, be accountable for yourself."