Broncos See New Receiver As Missing Link To Help Their Stagnant, Inconsistent Offense

We already know a lot about the Denver Broncos splashy new receiver, but we’re learning more every day when it comes to the role Jaylen Waddle will play. OTAs and minicamp offeed some important clues about this that were explored by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic in a recent piece. 

Start with the need for speed. We thought the Broncos already had plenty of that with receivers like Marvin Mims Jr., Pat Bryant and and Troy Franklin, but according to quarterback Bo Nix, Waddle takes things to a different level.

“You just can’t replace speed,” Nix said. “That’s just what he brings to the table. … He looks like he doesn’t really slow down to make cuts, which is pretty tough to do for a fast guy. He’s just going to add an element of relief for everybody else …  A guy like that makes everybody on the offense better.”

Nix’s comments are especially interesting as they relate to Kosmider’s summary of Waddle’s production to date. His 17-game career averages of 81 catches, 1,098 yards and six touchdowns are a portrait of consistent, if not superstar-level, production, the writer noted, but watching him in person changes the perspective about what he brings to the table.  

Kosmider also flagged another part of Waddle’s game that hasn’t been talked about much to date. The real key to Waddle’s impact, the writer stated, was whether Waddle can create what Kosmider called “cleaner looks” for the running game. 

The main stat here is telling. The Broncos saw eight or more defenders in the box on 46.1 percent of their rush attempts last season, according to TruMedia, which was the ninth-highest mark in the league. 

That also had a significant impact on primary running back J.K. Dobbins saw heavy boxes on 49.7 percent of his rushes through the season’s first ten weeks before he got hurt. That was the eighth-highest rate among running backs, but Dobbins somehow managed to average 5 yards per carry anyway, which was the best rate among the 20 running backs that faced the highest average of eight-defender boxes.

The idea with Waddle will be to push safeties back from the line of scrimmage, which could give Dobbins and new addition Jonah Coleman more room to run up the middle. This would be a welcome development for an offense that often faced long yardage situations on second and third down after swing passes and bubble screens to the existing wideouts that often had little impact.