Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has always believed that the "hidden yardage" of special teams plays a huge role in how your season can turn out as a football team. If you can win the field position battle, you will more often than not be setting up your team to win in the margins and close out tight games.
That's why the Broncos have made special teams arguably one of the biggest points of emphasis this offseason. They made one of the best non-head coach hires by bringing in Darren Rizzi as their new special teams coordinator. They made Mitchell Fraboni one of the highest-paid long snappers in the league. They added special teams ace Trent Sherfield in NFL Free Agency, replacing Tremon Smith. They brought back Justin Strnad.
The Broncos used a fourth-round pick on Alabama EDGE rusher Que Robinson, a player who was dubbed by former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban as one of the best special teamers he's ever coached.
Then, in the sixth round, the Broncos addressed the departure of free agent punter Riley Moss by drafting Florida punter Jeremy Crawshaw. The Broncos were the only team to draft a punter this year and they got the top guy on their board with the final pick of the sixth round.
And while Crawshaw has a booming leg, he has another secret skill that could be of use to the Broncos at some point this coming season...
Broncos sixth-round punter Jeremy Crawshaw has some skill as a runner
Broncos might need to give Jeremy Crawshaw some snaps at running back! pic.twitter.com/UPcmNevcEX
— Xan (@XanB21) April 29, 2025
Crawshaw had a 28-yard fake punt a couple of years ago for Florida, and you can see when watching this video that he's got a real pep in his step. As a former rugby player, he's no stranger to having the ball in his hands and making plays that way.
It's not like the Broncos are going to run a fake punt every week, but you never know when it's going to be the right time to call one of those types of plays. Sean Payton opened up his Denver Broncos coaching career by kicking an onside and we saw in the team's return to the playoffs, he called a fake punt.
Now, with Darren Rizzi on board, you can expect even more of this type of stuff. Rizzi is a master chess player when it comes to calling fakes at just the right time. He's always studying for ways to catch teams off-guard on special teams and now he's got an intriguing athletic weapon back there whenever the Broncos are punting.
Don't be surprised if we see this a time or two in 2025.