Denver Broncos add Mike Ford to further upgrade special teams
The Denver Broncos continue to look for ways to upgrade on special teams, claiming former Detroit Lions defensive back Mike Ford off of waivers.
Although he wasn’t on our radar (there were far too many players to evaluate for that to really be possible), the Denver Broncos have made another move on the waiver wire to upgrade their special teams unit. They poached defensive back Mike Ford away from the Detroit Lions, a player who is closing in on 500 career special teams snaps through just three NFL seasons.
Ford was undrafted in 2018 out of Southeast Missouri State, and he cracked the Lions’ active roster for seven games as a rookie.
The team announced the move to add both Ford as well as running back Nate McCrary, who we will discuss in a separate post.
We were awarded DB Mike Ford & RB Nate McCrary off waivers.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 1, 2021
Interestingly enough, George Paton was able to keep his and the Denver Broncos’ interest in Ford quiet enough that the Lions did not try to include him in the Trinity Benson trade on Tuesday. Had Lions GM Brad Holmes known about the Broncos’ interest in Ford, they might have tried to dangle him instead of that 2022 seventh-round pick, or perhaps lower the price in general by including a guy the Broncos wanted on their active roster.
As it turns out, the Denver Broncos wound up getting both picks from the Detroit Lions (5th and 7th in 2022) as well as Mike Ford now to help with the special teams unit.
George Paton spoke to the media after initial cuts on Tuesday and talked about his desire to improve the overall team speed with the Denver Broncos, and Ford is another player that helps accomplish that from 1-to-53.
Ford is a great athlete, excellent gunner, and has inside/oustide versatility at corner and S.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) August 30, 2021
Mike Ford went undrafted as a CB in the 2018 draft class. He scored a 9.72 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 42 out of 1486 CB from 1987 to 2018. https://t.co/3IOwDgvs5J #RAS pic.twitter.com/qeXHZ9HvZk
It’s safe to say this guy is absolutely tailor-made for special teams in the NFL.
He’s gotten a few opportunities to play defense for the Lions, with some mixed results.
Ultimately, this move was about upgrading Tom McMahon’s special teams units. The Denver Broncos have to cover kicks better, they have to cover punts better, and they need guys who know when they are supposed to be on the field and at what time.
McMahon doesn’t seem to be doing the best job out of the Denver Broncos’ coordinators, to put it lightly, and his unit had the worst preseason you could probably imagine.
Sam Martin had a blocked punt, they were called for 12 men on the field in a field goal formation, and the kick/punt coverage was atrocious.
Even considering the fact that you’re breaking guys in, you’ve got to be better than that.
Adding a player like Mike Ford, who has hundreds of snaps worth of experience on special teams and loads of athletic ability, is a worthwhile move to make.