Brandon Johnson, Marvin Mimms among the Broncos wide receivers who might wind up with expanded roles
At the start of training camp the Denver Broncos had one of the deepest roster of wide receivers in the NFL. That depth is more important than ever now with KJ Hamler dealing with a medical situation and Tim Patrick going down with a season-ending Achilles injury.
"It's terrible what happened to Tim. That really hurt," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said on Tuesday.
The Broncos are, however, hoping for good seasons from experienced standout wideouts Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Behind those two top targets, there has been some excitement about a few other players a little further down the depth chart.
Brandon Johnson is one of those. He's a second-year player out of UCF. Johnson is 25, 6-foot-2 and is listed at a weight of 195 pounds.
"Tim is so smart in reading coverages, knowing who to block, knowing when to convert routes ... doing the dirty work," Johnson said after a recent training camp practice. "I've just been sitting there watching Tim do all that stuff and I'm trying to just incorporate everything into my game."
Johnson reportedly suffered a leg injury on Tuesday at training camp but it isn't expected to be serious.
"Whatever coaches need me to do, I'm there to do it," he said.
Marvin Mimms out of Oklahoma is another promising young wideout for Denver. Jeudy told reporters he's got explosive speed and great hands.
"He's a guy that's got a bright future," said Jeudy.
Mimms was drafted in the second round and may need more time to acclimate to the NFL, but head coach Sean Payton says he's encouraged by what he's seen.
"In college there's some standard formations. I think the vocabulary gets bigger and the library of where they line up gets bigger," Payton said.
Mims led Oklahoma in receiving yards in each of his three seasons there.
"In my experience I've had players that have transitioned very quickly as rookies and then I've had players where it took a while," Payton said.
Marquez Calloway and Kendall Hinton are also receivers who may see expanded roles in upcoming weeks for the Broncos.