Cody Latimer proving worthy of more playing time?

The Denver Broncos have two superstars at wide receiver but need some help behind them. Cody Latimer proved he’s worthy of more playing time…

For three seasons, Cody Latimer has been underutilized, to put it lightly. The Denver Broncos used a second round draft pick on Latimer in 2014, a time when they weren’t desperate for help at the receiver position but assumed that Latimer would quickly ascend to the role left behind by free agent Eric Decker.

Latimer didn’t enter the NFL a polished prospect by any means, but to not see him on the field hardly at all was a bit of a shock. John Elway called Latimer the best blocking receiver in the draft that year, and we’ve seen at times his ability in that regard.

In fact, we saw it on display Sunday in the Broncos’ regular season finale against the Oakland Raiders, when Latimer perfectly sealed a touchdown catch and run by Devontae Booker on third and long.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is one of the better blockers at wide receiver in the NFL, and Latimer could certainly be as well, but we don’t see him on the field nearly enough.

The Broncos had been throwing guys out there all season to see if anyone could lock down the no. 3 receiver position. Included in that mix was Jordan Norwood, Jordan Taylor, and Bennie Fowler.

None of those players was overly inspiring this season, save for Jordan Taylor who is a former undrafted player that showed an excellent catch radius and ability to move the chains with four plays of 20 yards or more.

For the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out whey Latimer has been a gameday inactive so many times in the first three years of his career. He has excelled on special teams, but I don’t understand why he’s not seeing the field more as a receiver.

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Even if it’s simply to catch a screen pass and use his excellent speed and athletic ability to make a play, even if it’s to block in the running game or block for another player on a screen pass, we simply haven’t seen Latimer on the field a whole lot.

Latimer had three catches against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday in some of his most extensive work of the season, and nearly had a touchdown were it not for a blatant pass interference by Oakland cornerback David Amerson.

He had eight catches on the season, matching the first two seasons of his career combined. The lack of time spent on the field is a major coaching error by the Broncos, something that started with a potential lack of confidence from Peyton Manning and extended into this season, inexplicably.

I want answers on why Latimer was not on the field more. Does he seriously struggle to grasp the playbook this much? Is he completely incapable of creating separation? What could possibly be holding him back so badly that we have seen him catch 16 seasons in three years after being picked in the second round, looking like he had a really high ceiling?

I’m baffled, and I’m hoping the Broncos don’t waste away Latimer’s fourth year with the team.