Denver Broncos: Meteoric rise of Courtland Sutton

Second-year player Courtland Sutton is experiencing a meteoric rise to stardom as a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos.

Many scouts believed wide receiver Courtland Sutton was a first-round talent and arguably the best in the 2018 class. When the Denver Broncos snagged him in the second round of 2018 some even felt he was the top five steal of the entire draft.

The reasons he fell are more than likely due to one reason — route running. Yet, the talent was clearly obvious from day one.

Denver already had two number one wide receivers on its roster with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders when Sutton was drafted. Both are no longer on the roster. That alone should tell you how quickly Sutton’s meteoric rise has been since entering the NFL.

There’s one thought in my opinion about 2018. Last season Sutton proved to be a tremendous fly and go-deep wide receiver or seemingly a one-trick pony. Yet, when they dealt Thomas to Houston last season, something stuck with me. Sutton was compared to Thomas for his lack of route running prowess entering the NFL.

However, a team does not trade potentially a franchise’s top wide receiver if he has all the goods. By “all the goods” we mean the traits necessary to be an elite wide receiver. This may mean Denver held Sutton back only to unleash him in 2019.

This year, Sutton has answered the call and then some. The guy who once was a deep ball phenom with the catch radius of a superhuman, Sutton is adding the short and intermediate routes to his repertoire. In just his second season, Sutton is already becoming one of the best slant receivers in the NFL. A player close to 6’4″ and his combination size/strength is difficult to stop with his underrated speed.

It is becoming abundantly clear Sutton is an elite receiver in his second season. To the point, he’s already garnering All-Pro consideration from NFL analyst and writer Chris Wesseling. Let that sink in.

Every single week Sutton is proving he wants it more than the defensive backs that cover him. He is proving it takes more than the team’s best defensive back to cover him. Defenses need to double team Sutton just to stop him and as we saw on Sunday that didn’t even slow him down. Doubling your best wide receiver is the sign of respect you ‘made it’ in the NFL.

For Courtland Sutton, it has been a meteoric rise to stardom and he is, in fact, a star.