The Denver Broncos are a poor team right now and there doesn’t seem to be much of a light at the end of the tunnel. The team lacks talent in many areas and its youth is showing.
Some of that has to be expected. The Broncos are a young, rebuilding team trying to find a formula that works. But what the team is doing at the wide receiver position defies all logic and is just impossible to explain.
The Broncos have a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix and to this point, the game plan has been to dink and dunk and maybe get him into a rhythm. The preseason ended with the decision to cut Tim Patrick, a curious move but one you could pass to the fanbase because of his injury history.
However, you went and gave Courtland Sutton a contract extension when it was reported that the team was offered a third-round pick for him this offseason. That third-round pick would look a lot better than a guy who has five catches in two games.
But that’s far from the worst of it.
The Broncos have chosen to use players such as Devaughn Vele and Lil’Jordan Humphrey to start this season over Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr., the two wide receivers who could open up the deep passing game.
The Broncos traded up for both Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin
The Broncos traded up in each of the last two drafts to land these wide receivers. So why then does a stat like this exist?
Troy Franklin played in 12 of the Broncos’ 61 offensive snaps against the Steelers.
Marvin Mims played 9 snaps.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) September 16, 2024
The Broncos moved up 19 slots in the fourth round of April’s draft to grab Franklin, Bo Nix’s college teammate and No. 1 target at Oregon. Somehow he fell behind Vele, a seventh-round pick, but is that because Franklin is being outworked or he just isn’t a good fit for what Sean Payton is trying to do?
The case of Mims is even more ridiculous. He made plays last season in limited spots and this year, he’s not even getting a look. Nine snaps? There is absolutely no excuse for that.
It was nice to see Franklin active this week but if Vele wasn’t hampered by a rib injury, he wouldn’t have been. Thus, he saw just 12 offensive snaps.
#Broncos HC Sean Payton on Marvin Mims playing just 12 offensive snaps:
“It’s part of the challenges when we have multiple receiver groups. Obviously, we anticipate him getting more than just 12… I think you’ll see his pitch count, week to week — depending on the team we’re… pic.twitter.com/efY1jGhoAc
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 12, 2024
If the Broncos are going to see success on offense in 2024, Payton must consider drastic changes. They need to try and open the field in the passing game and the way to do that is to use Mims and/or Franklin to try and take the top off the defense.
| Broncos 2024 WR Stats (2 games) | Receptions | Targets | Yards | TD |
| Josh Reynolds | 9 | 13 | 138 | 0 |
| Courtland Sutton | 5 | 16 | 64 | 0 |
| Lil’Jordan Humphrey | 4 | 6 | 50 | 0 |
| Devaughn Vele | 8 | 8 | 39 | 0 |
| Marvin Mims Jr. | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Troy Franklin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Broncos wide receiver depth chart
| Courtland Sutton | |
| Josh Reynolds | |
| Devaughn Vele | |
| Marvin Mims Jr. | |
| Troy Franklin | |
| Lil’Jordan Humphrey | Practice Squad |
| David Sills | Practice Squad |
| Michael Bandy | Practice Squad |
| Kaden Davis | Practice Squad |
Players like Sutton, Vele and Humphrey just are not threatening to the defense. They’re all similar, big-bodied receivers but not guys who are going to blaze by a cornerback for a long gain. The Broncos are bad on offense because they are not difficult to defend… at all.
This situation must be remedied starting in Week 3.
MORE BRONCOS CONTENT
Power Rankings: How many teams are below the Broncos?
After two games, this Bo Nix stat will make your jaw drop
Broncos Week 2 winners and losers
Broncos need to turn to pair of unknowns in wake of Mike McGlinchey injury
Sean Payton makes inexplicably bad decision towards end of Week 2 loss
