Receiver Sharp eager for chance to help Broncos
When Hunter Sharp was in his second season at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, Calif., he and several teammates were visited by an assistant coach from Utah State named Mark Weber.
As Weber went through a line of players shaking hands, Sharp knew what the coach was doing.
“He wanted to see how tall you really were and how big your hands were,” Sharp said.
So as Weber approached Sharp, the young wide receiver rose from his chair and slyly stood on the tips of his toes, opening his hand wide as he met Weber’s hand shake.
“It’s nice to meet you, Coach,” the 5-foot-11 Sharp said with the confidence of a 6-footer.
Weber indeed gave Sharp a shot at Utah State, and he has turned it into a chance to show what he can do on an NFL stage.
The Broncos signed Sharp off their practice squad Wednesday and told him he’ll be active Sunday when Denver visits the Los Angeles Chargers without the services of receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Isaiah McKenzie, who are nursing ankle injuries suffered Sunday. The Broncos could also be without receiver Cody Latimer, who has missed the past two games with a knee injury and did not practice Monday.
“I was happy to hear I was playing, but for it to be in L.A. — and I’m an L.A. native — it meant even more to me,” said Sharp, who will also be an option for the Broncos at punt returner Sunday, along with wide receiver Jordan Taylor. “The younger guys on this team are put in a position to where, if we have to come up, then it should be a smooth transition. Coach tells me to keep paying attention like I’m playing every week, and I keep doing that. It’s got me to where I am.”
Sharp caught 137 passes for 1,774 yards and 16 touchdowns
in two seasons at Utah State. He was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and spent some time on the team’s practice squad. He joined Denver’s practice squad last December and later signed a futures contract with the team. He had six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos during the preseason.
“He’s earned a spot to be on our practice squad and now be on our roster,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “He’s a smart guy, very consistent, a great route runner with great ball skills. I’m looking forward to seeing him play.”
The Broncos have already had issues on offense the past three weeks, averaging just 14 points per game during a 1-2 stretch. Now they are without their secondleading receiver in Sanders and their lead punt returner in McKenzie. And leading receiver Demaryius Thomas was hobbled during Sunday’s 23-10 loss to the Giants, briefly leaving the game in the third quarter with a right calf injury. Thomas did not practice Wednesday, but Joseph said he’ll be ready to play Sunday.
That still means Bennie Fowler, the team’s third leading receiver with 13 catches for 140 yards, Taylor and now Sharp will have to make up ground against a Chargers team that has the NFL’s fourth-stingiest pass defense at 186 yards per game.
The Broncos would like to run the ball more consistently and more efficiently than they did in Sunday’s 2310 loss to the Giants, when they ran the ball 17 times for a season-low 46 yards. Still, a production void at the receiver position must be filled.
“You just have to be ready to play,” said Fowler, who caught two touchdown passes in the Broncos’ season-opening 24-21 win over the Chargers. “We have some key players out right now. We have to get those guys healthy. But, me, D.T., (Taylor) and (Sharp) … you just have to be ready to go.”
The Broncos, who signed former Washington State standout River Cracraft to the practice squad Wednesday to add further depth to the wide receiver spot, have still been looking for consistent production at the position outside of Thomas and the injured Sanders. No player besides those two — whether it be a wide receiver, tight end or running back — has posted back-to-back games of at least three catches.
Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy has said that every eligible receiver who suits up for his offense has to be a target and 12 different players have caught a pass for the Broncos this season. But a consistent target Siemian can count on when he faces pressure or sees Thomas and Sanders draped in coverage has yet to emerge. He’s had a revolving door of secondary and tertiary options, but Siemian doesn’t believe that’s a concern for Denver’s offense.
“I think guys have stepped up at different times,” he said. “Bennie has stepped up and made some plays. A.J. (Derby) and really all of the tight ends. The more we can get those guys involved, especially with some of the injuries we have now, the better off we’ll be. But we have all the confidence in the world in all those guys because they’ve taken their turns stepping up for us this year.”