It seemed like a near lock that the Denver Broncos would add a big-time receiver this offseason. After a strong rookie season by Bo Nix, adding a dynamic No. 1 receiver to pair with Courtland Sutton felt like the obvious next move to help their young franchise quarterback. But that move never came.
The free agent class was relatively weak at receiver, and Denver didn’t pull off a move for D.K. Metcalf, the biggest-name receiver traded this offseason. The draft felt like the next spot where the Broncos might take a swing, but they passed on a pass catcher in each of the first two rounds before eventually selecting Pat Bryant in Round 3.
While Bryant does have some intriguing traits, he is far from a No. 1 receiver who is ready to earn 150+ targets. Instead, he’s another big-body receiver that should fit into the rotation right away. However, there is still a big hole at receiver that needs to be filled. That is, unless another player on the roster steps up.
Are we sleeping on this Broncos wide receiver for 2025?
One player who could be in for a bigger role during the 2025 season is Marvin Mims, who is going into Year 3 of his NFL career. While Mims hasn’t been overly productive on offense yet, he earned Pro Bowl honors in back-to-back seasons as a returner and was named a first-team All-Pro selection during the 2024 season.
There is a long track record of successful returners becoming viable receivers, and the list includes players like Antonio Brown, Tyreek Hill, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, etc. Is this the year he becomes a bigger weapon on offense and helps make up for the lack of a true No. 1 receiver on the roster?
In a recent article by Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about Mims and why he believes that the third-year receiver is ready for a big breakout season. Jahnke compared Mims to Brandin Cooks, another smaller receiver who thrived in a Sean Payton offense. Here is a snippet of why he believes a big breakout season could be coming for Mims:
"While Brandin Cooks became a top receiver with Drew Brees throwing to him, Mims will continue catching passes from Bo Nix, who played reasonably well for a rookie last season, finishing with a high accuracy rate. His rate of throwing to wide receivers was very high, and his first read rate was low, which is generally good for a low average depth of target player. Mims should do just fine with Nix at quarterback, but there is a chance Nix makes some strides in his second season, in which case Mims' ceiling could be raised even higher."Nathan Jahnke, Pro Football Focus
There are a lot of similarities between Cooks and Mims, including their size and athleticism. Both players are undersized, but have a knack for making big plays down the field. Mims only has 61 career receptions, but he has averaged a whopping 10.4 yards per target on 85 targets. That is among the highest in the NFL since 2023.
Mims was very quiet in the first half of the season, recording just 69 receiving yards in the first 10 weeks of the season. But from Week 11 on, Mims averaged 62 receiving yards per game and scored six touchdowns in seven games. During that stretch, he caught 84.8 percent of his targets and averaged 13.2 yards per target, which is highly unsustainable, but impressive nonetheless.
If Mims can come anywhere close to the numbers he had in the second half of the season and do it for all 17 games, there is no reason why the Broncos couldn’t be a Super Bowl-caliber contender. Mims isn’t a true No. 1 receiver, but he is a game-breaker who started to gain the trust of Payton and Nix down the field. And at only 23, it’s fair to assume that we haven’t seen the best football from him yet.
Expect the former Oklahoma star to have an even bigger role in the offense this season, especially down the field. And if he can live up to the Brandin Cooks comps, this might end up being one of the league’s top offenses. The Broncos are just one breakout season from Mims away from being a legitimate contender in the AFC.