Henderson could help in passing game
Broncos training camp had entered its second week and Carlos Henderson had yet to make his move.
Footballs thrown toward the rookie wide receiver during the early days of camp often hit his hands before falling to the grass. The drops stung because they hampered the big-play ability that helped him average 18.7 yards per catch at Louisiana Tech last season.
“He’s trying a little too hard right now,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said after the team’s third practice a week ago. “But he’ll be fine. It’s early.”
If Henderson was flying under the radar at the start of camp, he grabbed the spotlight Thursday. He made at least a half-dozen impressive grabs during full-team and 7-on-7 sessions, displaying the separating speed and elusiveness that caused defenders to miss 48 tackles on him last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
As he flew down the left sideline and hauled in a deep throw from Paxton Lynch, landing just in front of the base of the orangeand-blue-dotted hill, fans had their best look yet at the explosiveness the Broncos are eager to see out of the 5-foot-11, 199-pound receiver.
“I’m starting to get more comfortable every day with the playbook,” Henderson said. “I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I’m learning more than I knew when I first came in here. I’m just continuing
to learn and learn.”
Part of the learning process for Henderson has been discovering how conditioned he has to be to successfully compete in the NFL. Joseph said Henderson wasn’t in the proper shape during workouts in the spring or at the beginning of training camp.
Joseph credited Henderson’s breakout day Thursday with the rookie reaching the proper level of conditioning.
“You have to do what the coaches ask, so if they want you to be in shape you have to be in shape,” Henderson said. “You’ve got to be in football shape to play the game. That’s important so that you don’t get tired, physically or mentally. It’s always important to be moving fast and playing fast. It’s being consistent.”
Still, Henderson said his biggest growth during camp has come from a better understanding of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s scheme. Joseph said Friday that all of the team’s wide receivers competing for spots alongside veterans Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders have to master the intricacies of all three receiving positions.
It’s like on-the-job training for three complicated jobs at once.
“You’ve got to know what everybody’s got to do,” Henderson said. “You have to know all the concepts. I’m learning, taking it one practice and one day at a time, and getting better as the days go on.”
Cody Latimer, the fourth-year receiver who is one of several players vying for the No. 3 receiving spot alongside Thomas and Sanders, sees some parallels in the start Henderson had to training camp to his own as a second-round pick out of Indiana in 2014.
“He came in and kind of reminds me of me,” Latimer said. “I came in like a deer in the headlight my rookie year. Eventually, you start getting it, man. He’s getting it and now he’s starting to play his game.”
The Broncos have one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL in Thomas and Sanders. But finding consistent production elsewhere at wide receiver was a problem for the Broncos last season. No player on the current training camp roster outside of Thomas and Sanders had more than 16 catches.
That has created opportunity among the group — including Henderson, Latimer, Jordan Taylor, Marlon Brown and rookie Isaiah McKenzie — battling for not only a spot on the roster, but for a chance to make plays when the regular season begins Sept. 11.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that are competing for that third spot,” Joseph said Friday. “Not just a slot position, but the third receiver because Mike’s vision is to have (Sanders) in the slot and (Thomas) in the slot. He’s looking for the best guy to be the third receiver to play all three spots.”