Denver Broncos cornerback Brendan Langley is reportedly changing to the wide receiver position after two years struggling in the NFL at CB.
The Denver Broncos’ 2017 NFL Draft class will potentially go down as the worst in John Elway’s tenure as general manager but Garett Bolles has been keeping things afloat for now (2013 is definitely the worst).
Here are the players Elway picked in 2017:
1st round: Garett Bolles, OT, Utah
2nd round: DeMarcus Walker, DL, Florida State
3rd round: Carlos Henderson, WR, Louisiana Tech
3rd round: Brendan Langley, CB, Lamar
5th round: Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
5th round: Isaiah McKenzie, WR, Georgia
6th round: De’Angelo Henderson, RB, Coastal Carolina
7th round: Chad Kelly, QB, Ole Miss
This draft class had such high potential, but also apparently a very high — and quick — bust factor.
Bolles is someone the Broncos are likely to try and keep beyond his first contract, at least we hope so. Walker hasn’t hardly played in two years.
Both Hendersons, McKenzie, and Kelly are off the team. Jake Butt missed his whole rookie season due to injury and all but a few games of 2018 due to another ACL injury.
So what about Brendan Langley?
Langley has been on and off the active roster as the Broncos have tried to fit the former wide receiver somewhere in their cornerback group. Despite the team’s desperate need for cornerback help, Langley has been unable to seize a spot. It’s just not working out, and that’s why a report of Langley moving to wide receiver makes a lot of sense.
#Broncos CB Brendan Langley is moving to wide receiver. He played some receiver at Lamar and in high school. #NFL
— Ron Clements (@Ron_Clements) March 3, 2019
Langley, as the Tweet states, was a high school receiver and played some receiver when he got to Lamar. He was also a really good return specialist but hasn’t been able to seize that role in Denver either.
The timing of this news is interesting also with a brand new group of defensive coaches coming into town. They must have decided from their film study that Langley has a better chance of making it as a receiver, and for the Broncos’ sake, I really hope he does.
It would mean that at least one of the three receivers they took in the 2017 Draft panned out, but it’s a longshot at this point.
Langley has outstanding athleticism, which he proved leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft.
At 6-feet, 201 pounds, Langley ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash, put up 22 bench press reps at 225 pounds, and a 35.5-inch vertical jump. This guy is explosive and fast. Could he be the speedy receiver the Broncos need to blow the top off of defenses?
Let’s not get carried away just yet.
If Langley is going to make the Broncos as a receiver, it’s going to happen one play at a time. He’s got to prove he can get off of press coverage, get out of his breaks smoothly, and track the ball downfield like a receiver again.
I don’t know that playing receiver in the NFL is any easier than playing corner, but perhaps Langley can be more of an impact in that regard. He has all of the physical tools to be an important piece of the Broncos’ special teams, and it says a lot that Denver has entrusted Zach Azzanni with this project.
Azzanni was hired last year as the team’s wide receivers coach and was retained by Vic Fangio upon his hiring.
Azzanni is definitely a rising position coach in the league and did an outstanding job last year for the Broncos helping develop a number of young receivers including Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton, and Tim Patrick.
Can he work some magic with Langley?