The Broncos 2018 Draft Class is making its mark, but there’s a need for more production. Courtland Sutton might make that impact as the new stallion.
There is a rookie that is impressing in game action. Courtland Sutton is arguably the most talented player at the position since Demaryius Thomas or since Rod Smith. We notably talked at length about Sutton’s greatest weakness playing wide receiver. His route running parallels Thomas entering the league from Georgia Tech. As the season wears on, there’s plenty of optimism to see potential growth.
Sutton’s a big, physical presence on offense. Defensive backs are having a hard time covering Sutton early in his career. This is one of the best underrated attributes of a wide receiver. In this day and age of weapons, quarterbacks throw to receivers to draw flags, but it’s still up to Sutton and others to attract that attention.
The best trait is his catch radius. Quarterback Case Keenum can throw it into any window and Sutton snags anything.
"We have so many weapons. I have to let them hunt." - QB Case Keenum pic.twitter.com/03a1k3StT9
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 11, 2018
This leads us to Sutton’s exposure in the red zone. Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay lead the way of production because running the football is the best offense lately. However, the mark of a well rounded offense is everyone contributing.
Sutton’s catch radius and size makes him the ideal candidate to see targets in the scoring area. It does still fall on the shoulders of Keenum and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave to realize possible mismatches. Once the chance arises and Sutton sees man-to-man, Keenum can recognize it.
It’s been a shame the Denver Broncos struggle mightily in red zone the last two seasons. With the weapons at the disposal of the Broncos offense, there’s no reason the team should score efficiently in the scoring area.
Through five weeks of the NFL season, the Broncos rank 20th in Drive Success Rate, according to Football Outsiders. Since Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning left, the team has ranked at or near the bottom of red zone efficiency. This has to stop now! One place is start is unleash Megatron Jr. in the red zone.
On a positive note, Keenum recognizes he will need to unleash all his weapons. One of those players is Courtland Sutton.
The issues of the offense certainly go beyond the red zone. However, teams cannot win games if there’s no points or touchdowns scored. Also according to Football Outsiders, the Denver Broncos rank 22nd in points per drive.
Sutton is just one piece of their offensive puzzle, but as big and physical as he is, Musgrave and Keenum must follow through with the gameplan to let Sutton and the other weapons hunt. Let’s hope the Broncos look to Sutton on Sunday.