Denver Broncos: Second-year players ready to contribute
River Cracraft, WR
Admittedly, this is a bit of cheating because Cracraft was a rookie in 2017, officially, as he signed to the Broncos’ practice squad a couple of times.
We’ll call him a ‘redshirt’ second-year guy.
In 2018, however, Cracraft actually got to dress for half the team’s regular season games and wound up catching one pass, and you can see a picture of the awesome 44-yard catch above.
It was a highlight-reel play, to be certain, for Cracraft who needed some type of notch on his belt for regular season action after he really impressed the coaching staff and media at training camp.
He took Carlos Henderson’s jersey number and roster spot with the Broncos last season, but now in his second full season with the team, expectations will be higher for Cracraft to contribute as both a slot receiver and return specialist.
He returned 12 punts for 40 yards for an underwhelming 3.3 yards per return average.
Not that everyone expected Cracraft to be this big play guy, but I would like to see him develop into a player who can average closer to 10 yards per punt return and make more of an impact on the passing game as a slot guy.
He’s certainly capable of it and he’s put in the work to get better. Hopefully he can solidify his place this year and contribute on a weekly basis.