Denver Broncos: Tim Patrick is flying way under the radar

Denver Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick isn’t getting the kind of hype or attention as his fellow young receivers. He should be.

How will Courtland Sutton become the Denver Broncos’ new alpha in the passing game? How is Emmanuel Sanders going to look coming off injury? How soon will DaeSean Hamilton become the receptions monster everyone thinks he can be?

These are all common questions or at least common players discussed at the wide receiver position for the Broncos, and for good reason.

Heck, a good amount of attention has been paid to Juwann Winfree, whose limited college tape has everyone drooling over his potential in the NFL as a height/weight/speed guy with some nice route running chops.

The one guy people aren’t talking about who should be getting a lot more attention?

Tim Patrick.

You remember Tim Patrick, right? No?

He’s the guy who was making ridiculous catches in training camp and preseason:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1031014219875987457

The guy who made the biggest play of the game in the Broncos’ week two comeback win at home against the Raiders, putting Gareon Conley in a blender:

How about the guy who helped put the Broncos in position to make a comeback on the road in Kansas City with his first NFL touchdown catch?

https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/1056613228636078080

Patrick is also the guy who made a one-handed catch against the Raiders on Christmas Eve and got Jon Gruden to tell him to, “Shut the f*** up.”

https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/1077404750117662721

That Tim Patrick. Remember this guy?

I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Patrick only had 23 catches last year, but a number of them (majority?) were really big plays, very difficult plays, and clutch plays in key situations for the Broncos.

Patrick was the star for the Broncos in their disappointing loss to the San Francisco 49ers, catching a game-high seven passes on a career-high 10 targets.

He was targeted 30 times over the final four games of the 2018 season and while the Broncos’ passing attack sputtered down the stretch, Patrick proved himself to be a viable option both last year and into the future for Denver.

Patrick is a 6-foot-4 receiver who runs in the mid 4.4 range. He is no slouch athletically. The reason he was undrafted coming out of college had nothing to do with football ability, it was availability.

Patrick suffered some serious injuries in college, and there was a point he thought he might never play again.

He played all last season for the Broncos, sprinkling in a number of clutch plays before he contributed more consistently down the stretch.

In Patrick, the Broncos have a legit vertical threat and a guy who is clearly very good after the catch and working at or near the sideline.

He has great control of his 6-foot-4 frame and as we could see from the clip early in the season against the Raiders, he has the foot quickness to make defensive backs guess out there when he’s running routes.

This will really be Patrick’s second year of significant NFL experience. He’s got to build off of what he was able to do last year but he’s a guy Zach Azzanni deserves a lot of credit for developing quickly and turning into a viable WR3 with WR2 upside.

The Broncos get him as their WR4 when everyone’s healthy, but he will no doubt play a role this season.