Denver Broncos depth chart riser no. 2: Kendall Hinton, WR
The wide receiver position seems to be like a deck of cards getting reshuffled every single day for the Denver Broncos.
One day it’s Brandon Johnson. The next day it’s Seth Williams. Then it’s Jalen Virgil. Then it’s Kendall Hinton. There’s a never-ending cycle, seemingly, of players who are making noise at training camp and then in the team’s preseason game, when you’re looking for guys to really separate themselves, it seems like every single one of them has a great game.
Brandon Johnson is someone we’ll talk about in a bit here. Spoiler alert. One player that I think has really solidified himself as a top 4-5 receiver on this roster is Kendall Hinton. Hinton had already drawn some rave reviews throughout the offseason from Russell Wilson and the coaching staff, and the previous regime in Denver loved him also.
It wasn’t just his courage to go out there against a brutally tough defense as the emergency quarterback against the New Orleans Saints. It was Hinton’s development on the practice field at the wide receiver position. He really only played receiver for one season at Wake Forest and racked up 1,000 yards in his first year doing it.
His development with the Denver Broncos over the last couple of years has been slow and steady, but we saw great signs of growth in 2021 and now in 2022, Hinton looks like an even more dynamic player. The way he went up for this touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys raised a lot of eyebrows in Broncos Country.
We stan @Kendall_Hinton2 🙌
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 14, 2022
📺: @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/HhgpQcKMKt
It’s just an outstanding play on the ball by Kendall Hinton, who has proven that he can win in a variety of different ways at the receiver position. Initially, it looked like he might be a nice backup option out of the slot. Then all of a sudden he’s making plays after the catch. Now, he’s showing the ability to go up and make acrobatic catches in contested coverage in the end zone.
To me, Hinton is that guy that, if KJ Hamler isn’t in the lineup, he’s the first guy whose number will be called. Montrell Washington has had an outstanding offseason and he’s going to play plenty, but Hinton looks like he’ll be the “WR4” in this offense and the first guy up in the rotation after Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and KJ Hamler.