Subpar start by King noticed

A familiarity with Broncos specialteams coordinator Tom McMahon combined with the struggles of punter Marquette King helped Colby Wadman land on the team’s practice squad Tuesday.

Wadman, 23, traveled to Denver from his parents’ home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for a workout with the Broncos before signing.

“I knew (McMahon) back from when he was in Indianapolis and he was one of the first ones to start scouting me (at UC Davis),” Wadman said after practice Wednesday.

McMahon visited Wadman oncampus and later brought him to the Colts’ minicamp. He had also worked out previously for the Broncos.

King enters Monday’s game against Kansas City ranked 23rd in gross average (44.6 yards), 15th in net average (41.6 yards, which is gross average minus return yardage) and tied for 10th in punts inside the 20yard breakout rookie season but is still gaining traction in Year 2. He’s averaged a paltry 3.2 yards per carry and has yet to crack the century mark in three games. That hasn’t softened the Broncos’ approach in containing the 23yearold former Toledo star. Denver is rightfully optimistic they’ll get the job done, because a shaky pass defense has given way to a stout rush stop entering Week 4.

“Our front seven has played very well in all three games, as far as keeping the run to a minimum,” coach Vance Joseph said. line (six).

“We have to get better there so we’re looking forward to Marquette having a good week of punting,” coach Vance Joseph said. “But it’s a performancebased business.”

Per the Denver Post’s game charting, King’s average hang time on 17 punts this year is 3.91 seconds, below the desired 4.00 seconds that produces a combination of good distance and time for the coverage team to get downfield.

King averaged 4.11 seconds on six punts against Seattle in Week 1 and three of his punts had a net of at least 45 yards. The hang time remained solid in the Week 2 win over Oakland (4.35 seconds).

But the Ravens game was a struggle. King averaged only 3.50 seconds on seven punts, including ones of 3.20, 2.93 and 2.67 seconds. Only one punt had a net of more than 41 yards.

The Chiefs have a premier punt returner in Tyreek Hill, who scored a 91yard touchdown in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. “That’s putting more burden on the back end. We have to go continue to stop the run and obviously play better in the back end.”

Denver has allowed only two runs of 12plus yards — Chris Carson of Seattle (24) and Alex Collins of Baltimore (14). And, per Denver Post game charting, the Broncos have recorded 36 combined “run stuffs” or gains of threeorfewer yards — not counting shortyardage or kneeldowns. Among Denver’s more active stuffers are nose tackle Domata Peko (four) and linebacker Todd Davis (6½).

“We’ve got solid players like (Derek) Wolfe, Adam, big Shelby (Harris) and Zach (Kerr) —

“(Hang time) is going to be key with this guy,” Joseph said of Hill. “He’s a dangerous returner. He doesn’t faircatch the football. We have to do a good job of keeping him from hurting us with punt returns.”

Impressed with Rare situation. Chiefs.

The juggernaut that is Kansas City’s offense will arrive with gaudy statistics and a talented depth chart.

“They’re averaging almost 400 yards (398.3) and almost 40 points (39.3) per game, the quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) is playing at a high level and he has multiple weapons along with Coach (Andy) Reid’s system,” Joseph said. “It’s going to be difficult for us to get them stopped, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

If the Chiefs hold as a favorite of four or more points, it will put the Broncos in an unfamiliar position.

Only three times since the start of 2011 have the Broncos been a home underdog of at all veteran players who are really stingy against the run,” Peko said. “We don’t like people to run on us. When people run on you, they’re controlling you.”

The Broncos’ runD has excelled when most required early in drives. They’ve allowed opponents 3.74 yards per rush on firstdown attempts, according to STATS, as the 11thbest mark in the NFL.

“If you can’t put them behind the sticks on first down, it puts them in a tough situation,” Gotsis said. “Secondandlong is not where a lot of teams want to be. It makes them more predictable and the playcalling a bit easy. We’ve got to dominate KC early, shut them down and see which least four points: Against the New York Jets (6 1/2 points, won 1713) and New England (7 points, lost 4123) in 2011 and the Patriots last year (7 points, lost 4116).

“I’m not surprised they’re favored,” said Joseph, citing the Chiefs’ threegame win streak in Denver. “That means nothing.”

Footnotes.

The Broncos practiced without pads on Wednesday. Inside linebacker Brandon Marshall (knee) was the only nonparticipant. Cornerbacks Adam Jones (thigh) and Tramaine Brock (groin) returned to practice. Jones missed the Baltimore game and Brock was injured after six snaps of work. “They both looked fine,” Joseph said. … Joseph downplayed linebacker Von Miller playing 49 of 72 snaps against the Ravens. “If we play 70 snaps and he plays 50, that’s a good number,” Joseph said. Miller played 50 of 57 against Seattle and 50 of 65 against Oakland. The beneficiary was Shaq Barrett, who played 21 snaps in Weeks 12 but 28 in the Ravens game. way the game flows. But winning first down is the most important thing.”

Denver’s attention to rush defense must also extend to secondyear quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whose pocket mobility has created brokenplay magic on more than one occasion this season. The Broncos blueprint for Russell Wilson’s feet worked wonders in the opener (five yards rushing and six sacks). More of the same is expected against Kansas City.

“We’re ready to go in there and be dominant,” Gotsis said.