Horse Droppings: Broncos Add WR/RS Solomon Patton

It’s time for another edition of Horse Droppings, where we here at Predominantly Orange fill you in on all the crap you want to know about the Denver Broncos from around the web and in the news.

We start off today by taking a look at Solomon Patton, a wide receiver/kick returner who was claimed by the team off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday.

Patton is a diminutive but tough receiver who held kick return and punt return duties with the Bucs last year before being waived and signed to the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad. He ended up back with the Buccaneers and finished off last season with 10 punt returns for 112 yards and 18 kick returns for 416 yards, but he’s not yet even scratched the surface of his potential.

As an undrafted free agent out of Florida, Patton was one of the more sought after UDFAs in the 2014 NFL Draft class. He showed ‘see ya’ speed at Florida, but more than just a smaller fast guy playing football, this guy showed toughness, soft hands, and an ability to block, believe it or not.

His size limitations obviously limit him in the NFL, but the Broncos had a lot of success with Trindon Holliday back in the 2012 season after picking him up off of waivers from the Houston Texans, and I think Patton can have a similar impact as a returner, and even more of an impact as a future slot receiver.

He might not end up making the team, but this is a guy that showed some really nice skills on tape. Have a look for yourself.

This was one of Patton’s best games as a receiver in college. You can see he’s got amazing short area quickness, burst, and vision with the football in his hands. At 5-foot-8, 179 pounds, he ran a 4.38 second 40 yard dash at the Gators’ pro day last offseason, and showed some of that speed and quickness in the pre-season finale with Tampa Bay last year.

Patton fumbled once last year and had a nice 19 yard run with the Bucs, but otherwise didn’t see much on-field action offensively. This is a developmental player and the Broncos are absolutely stocked to the brim with wide receivers. That Arkansas tape shows what he is capable of as a receiver, but this Missouri tape shows what he can do as a returner. When he finds a crease…

I don’t know if you noticed, but our pal Shane Ray makes a couple of nice appearances in that game. I still don’t understand how some people don’t love that pick. He’s going to be an absolute monster…

But back to Patton…

I didn’t see much weakness to his game in two tapes, and obviously there’s more to the story. He’s clearly a lot smaller than guys he’s going up against, and he doesn’t have much ability to break tackles. That said, he can make you miss in short areas as well as run by you. He’s really good, if you’ll notice in the tape, at snatching the ball out of the air rather than letting the ball into his body. Oftentimes, when scouting receivers — especially smaller ones — I’ll notice a major issue with letting the ball into their body to catch it. Not so much with Patton, who has strong hands and with more experience running routes, I think he could be a stud slot receiver in the future.

Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com — the best in the business (IMO) — documents why we should pay attention to this addition.

Time will tell, but he’s got an uphill battle ahead of him with the wide receiver position so loaded in Denver. They not only brought in Patton, they also brought in a guy named David Porter at the receiver spot from TCU. We’ll get into him more a bit later.

For now, the addition of Patton is something to not only be aware of, but a player to really start paying attention to. He might be the fastest receiver on the team (though Emmanuel Sanders might dispute that) and he might just be the new kick and punt returner (though Jordan Norwood, Isaiah Burse, and Omar Bolden might have something to say about that).

Broncos Also Added TE Marcel Jensen

The Broncos claimed the big tight end off of waivers from the Jaguars in the wake of the Jeff Heuerman injury, and essentially what they are getting here is a ‘poor man’s’ version of Heuerman.

Jensen is huge at 6-foot-6, nearly 270 pounds. He showed phenomenal athleticism at last year’s combine, posting a 35-inch vertical jump and solid 4.85 speed for his height, weight, and length. He also bench pressed 225 pounds 24 times.

He’s a long-armed, in-line tight end that can block, but can also stretch the seam. Obviously, Heuerman is a supremely talented player that the Broncos deemed a top 100 player in the draft. Jensen was a UDFA out of Fresno State last year, but stuck on the Jags’ roster and has a chance to stick in Denver as well.

I’m still holding out hope the Broncos will — at some point — talk to former Oregon Ducks star TE Colt Lyerla.

Broncos Sign Two More UDFA Players

The Broncos, in addition to picking up Solomon Patton and Marcel Jensen off of waivers, added undrafted free agents Andre Davis and David Porter.

Davis is a long-time starter for the Buffalo Bulls program who got a tryout with the New York Jets and was immediately scooped up by the Broncos after not receiving a contract. He has experience at both tackle and guard, but projects best to the inside in the NFL.

He started 48 games for Buffalo while paving the way for one of their most potent rushing attacks in school history.

Porter is a former TCU receiver who finished fourth on TCU in receiving last season with 392 yards on 39 catches with three touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown pass to Trevone Boykin on a trick play. He started the final six games of the season last year, and showed some ability to make plays but bulk touches were hard to come by in the TCU offense, which has so much talent, especially at receiver.

He participated in Miami’s rookie minicamp as a tryout player.

With these four pickups I’ve mentioned, the Broncos’ roster stands at 90 players again.

ICYMI: Gary Kubiak Said Jeff Heuerman Will Help Coach

This is a really interesting proclamation by a new head coach. His rookie third round pick at tight end is going to help coach the position group while he recovers from a torn ACL.

You’ve got to love Gary Kubiak already.

Peyton Manning Sings Johnny Cash

Because you know you’re going to click that…

John Elway, John Lynch React to Patriots Punishment

Elway says he knew the Broncos would see Brady in week 12, and that he doesn’t think this process is over. We agree.

Tulane CB Duo Learned From a Former Bronco

Troy Renck of the Denver Post takes a look at the Green Wave duo once more, only this time around we find out that Tulane’s co-defensive coordinator is Lionel Washington, a former Denver Broncos cornerback from the mid-90s.

He has only great things to say about Doss and Nixon, who are now competing for jobs with the Denver Broncos. It will be really interesting to watch these two develop this offseason.

The plot thickens.

Debunking of the Broncos’ Cheating Scandal

With all the talk of the Patriots cheating, it wouldn’t be fair unless someone brought up the Broncos’ incident from nearly 20 years ago.

Khalid Alshami and our friends at Mile High Huddle debunk the scandal for us all.

Next: Josh Furman: The Mystery Man in the Secondary