Denver Broncos: Five big winners from 2021 OTAs

1. Kendall Hinton, WR

Kendall Hinton will always be known as the COVID replacement quarterback for the Denver Broncos during the 2020 season when the entire room was basically suspended by the NFL for a week.

The Denver Broncos had to use Hinton, a former college quarterback at Wake Forest turned wide receiver, as a break-in-case-of-emergency option against one of the NFL’s best defenses — the New Orleans Saints — late in the 2020 season.

Hinton’s efforts were admirable, but if he’s going to make it in the NFL, it will be as a wide receiver.

As it turns out, he may have a pretty decent chance of doing just that.

Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio does not exactly hand out compliments or admonishments liberally, so for him to say what he said about Hinton being the standout player of OTAs up to this point is really noteworthy.

Everyone hoped that Hinton could have a heroic moment as the replacement QB last season as the Denver Broncos still had a fraction of hope for the playoffs, but he may be able to help in other ways.

As a slot receiver at Wake Forest, Hinton really showed that he has NFL-caliber stuff and that is what got him a job with the Denver Broncos last year in the first place. His teammate, Jerry Jeudy, sounded off on the reports and rumblings of Hinton having a good offseason thus far.

It seems clear that everyone is taking notice of Hinton’s improvements this offseason. The big question now will be — how do the Denver Broncos carve out a spot for him?

Again, with offseason breakouts come eventual surprise roster casualties. Hinton is going to have to use training camp and preseason play to take someone’s job, and he is well on his way to doing just that.