It’s officially the back half of the NFL season, and the Broncos are in, well, about the same position as they were in in 2017, if only slightly better.

A middling offense that expects too much out of its quarterback and lets down their competitive defensive teammates. The story has been told before. With seven games left in the season, let’s take a look at one of the few rays of light for the 2018 Broncos: the rookie class.

While afterthought Phillip Lindsay has dominated headlines and Courtland Sutton is the heir-apparent to Demaryius Thomas, first-round pick Bradley Chubb has semi-quietly put together a stellar season.

The fifth overall pick out of North Carolina State has tallied eight sacks in nine games, most among first-year players and tied for sixth in the league with veterans Jason Pierre-Paul and Dee Ford. He’s also on pace to eclipse a guy named Von Miller’s rookie mark of 11.5 sacks.

Chubb, with his stocky 6-foot-4-inch and 275 pound frame, complements star Von Miller in a fashion unseen since DeMarcus Ware retired. Surprisingly athletic for his size, Chubb has added a dynamic to a reliable Broncos defense rarely seen from rookie defenders.

What sticks out about Chubb is his maneuverability against the tackles, and the shining moment of his season came against the then-undefeated Los Angeles Rams.

Though the Broncos lost, Chubb sacked quarterback Jared Goff three times — all of which came on the strong side facing Andrew Whitworth, a three-time All-Pro with a reputation of being one of the most reliable blockers in the game. When he did line up on the weak side of the line, he got the best of 6-foot-7-inch tackle Rob Havenstein. Late in the second, Chubb drained momentum from the top NFC offense not with a sack, but his mere presence.

With the Rams up 13-3, they snapped the ball on the Broncos’ 47 yard line. Chubb blew past tight end Tyler Higbee. Havenstein picked him up and was able to block the pass rusher’s line to Goff, but Chubb was able to morph himself to the tackle’s outside shoulder, creating enough pressure to force Goff up the pocket and into Von Miller for a drive-breaking sack.

Then, with less than a minute to go in the first half, Chubb squared off against Whitworth — who has three inches and 60 pounds on the rookie — and pushed one of the best linemen of the decade like a cardboard cutout into the pocket and changed direction upfield, while being blocked, mind you, to sack Goff.

The rookie’s pass rushing capabilities are clear — the sky’s the limit, but he’s limited in run and pass coverage. He’s fine on dive plays, but if asked to pursue a runner downfield, he might as well be on the bench — somewhere he spent plenty of time on running downs against the Houston Texans on Nov. 4.