WR: Spot caught up in concern
Editor’s note: Sixth of a series providing a position-by-position review of the Broncos in 2017 and looking ahead. Today: wide receivers.
The balletic pirouette was a throwback.
When Demaryius Thomas twisted his body in midair to catch a touchdown pass against the Jets in December, it called to mind many other gravity-defying plays made by one of the best wide receivers in Broncos history. But in 2017, jaw-dropping grabs for Thomas and the Broncos were more exception than rule.
Thomas failed to reach 1,000 yards receiving for the first time since 2011, his second season in the NFL. The 30-year-old finished with 83 catches for 949 yards. Strong numbers, to be sure, but marks that fell below the high standard Thomas has created for himself.
But the veteran’s production, hampered by seemingly endless change at the quarterback position, may have been the furthest item down the list of Denver’s problems at wide receiver, a key area the Broncos must address during the offseason as they try to rebound from a 5-11 season.
“Offensive football is about getting the best players we can possibly get and then putting them in the best situation to be successful,” general manager John Elway said in his seasonending news conference. “We have to do a better job with that; we didn’t do a great job of that this year. That is definitely something that we have to get better at with the offensive staff and the decisions Vance (Joseph, Denver’s head coach) made there. Then we have a better chance to get everybody on the same page and making sure that we’re taking full advantage of the guys that we have.”
Emmanuel Sanders, who signed a three-year, $33 million extension with the Broncos in 2016 that runs through the end of the 2019 season, missed four games because of an ankle injury in 2017 and was compromised by the issue in a handful of others. Denver’s No. 2 receiver, who turns 31 in March, finished with 47 catches for 555 yards and two touchdowns, his lowest totals since 2012.
And then there was the problem that has plagued the Broncos consistently for the last three seasons, even during their successful run to an NFL championship in 2015: the lack of a productive third wide receiver.
There were strides made by several players down the depth chart, to be sure. In his fourth season, Cody Latimer finally flashed some of the offensive talent that made him a second-round draft pick in 2014. He caught a career-high 19 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns, and his average of 15.1 yards per catch was the highest on the team. But Latimer missed five games because of injuries and is now an unrestricted free agent.
Bennie Fowler, a restricted free agent, also registered career marks in catches (29), yards (350) and touchdowns (three), and Jordan Taylor made strides down the stretch.
But consistency with any wide receiver outside of Thomas was fleeting. The Broncos were tied for ninth with 55 receptions of 20 or more yards last season, but only six teams caught fewer touchdown passes than Den- ver’s 19. The Broncos simply couldn’t find their wide receivers in the red zone, a major reason their sputtering offense finished 27th in scoring at 18.1 points per game.
Throw in the fact that fifthround draft pick Isaiah McKenzie, a player Denver hoped could make a Tyreek Hill-like mark at wide receiver, never found an traction on offense during his rookie season, and the Broncos find themselves in a back-to-the-drawingboard position at wide receiver. Part of the mission for new position coach Zach Annazzi will be figuring out how to maximize production from two aging top targets and a largely unproven cast behind them.
Thomas and Sanders still possess the ability to put pressure on defenses, but with both on the north side of 30, it’s hard to envision them approaching the stretch they had from 2014 to 2016, when both players had more than 1,000 yards receiving. Do the Broncos pursue a contract with Latimer now that he’s shown improvement as a down-thefield playmaker? Do they bank on growth from McKenzie as a potential slot weapon? Do they try to find a starter-level wide receiver in early rounds of the draft?
The Broncos figure to invest heavily this offseason — be it in free agency or with the use of the No. 5 overall draft pick — in a new quarterback. If Denver wants to put that quarterback “in the best situation to be successful,” as Elway claims it does, providing this new mystery man with enhanced weapons at wide receiver is a key part of the offseason puzzle.