After watching more clips from the victory over the New York Jets in London, it's time to review and go over my report card for the Denver Broncos' wide receiver room.
The inconsistencies in this room show up every week and it was magnified in London.
Despite the entire offense not having a great game, let's review who played well and who didn't meet their standards.
Broncos WRs barely earning passing grades in team's win vs. Jets
Courtland Sutton: C-
I am being extremely generous with this grade, especially considering the top target and WR1 for this team had one catch for 17 yards. His one catch came on a beautiful play-action rollout and connected with Bo Nix for a great play. That is when the offense was moving the ball in the first quarter, and everything hadn't been bad yet.
After that, Courtland Sutton was a no show in London.
""Sutton lined up against Gardner on 25 of his 29 routes (86.2%) and failed to catch his lone target with Gardner in coverage. His only reception of the game was a 17-yarder against Jamien Sherwood. In two games this season, Sutton has been limited to just one catch, while in his other four outings, he’s topped 5+ receptions and 60+ yards each time.""NFL PRO
Maybe I have higher expectations for top wide receivers on each team, but Sutton didn't have a great showing against Sauce Gardner. He averaged 1.5 yards of separation and had the fewest catches and yards on the Broncos against the Jets.
Nearly not good enough and needs to have a huge bounce back game against a favorable matchup against the Giants in Denver.
Troy Franklin: C-
Another generous grade, as Troy Franklin gave the Jets their first takeaway of the season on the first passing play of the game.
For a WR2 and someone in their "breakout year," Franklin struggled as well against the Jets. He did have one huge play get called back due to a penalty, which was the theme of the game, but he didn't manage to help open up opportunities for himself.
I still have no concern about Franklin going forward. I like what I've seen from the second-year receiver, and he is among the best receivers on screen passes on nearly every metric. The passing attack was inconsistent due to multiple factors, but I expect it to be better, alongside Franklin, against the Giants.
His final stats against the Jets were three catches for 19 yards.
Marvin Mims Jr: C+
Marvin Mims Jr. led the wide receiver room in yards with 30 on two catches. He also had the most average separation in the room with 3.7 yards. He had a nice 26-yard gain on a wheel route out of the backfield on a well-designed play.
Mims did the most with his opportunities, which have been limited this season. I expected his role to be a bit more expanded this season, but for whatever reason, it appears not to be the case.
Going forward, I would love to see Mims more involved within the offense and get more targets. I understand that the offense needs to get more into a rhythm for this to happen, but this offense can hit another gear once Mims gets involved.
Pat Bryant: C
This grade would've been higher if it weren't for the egregious false start penalty Pat Bryant had that led to the offense punting instead of having a scoring drive.
Bryant recorded two catches for 22 yards against the Jets and had some nice routes. His first catch was on his patented slant route, where he created good separation against Brandon Stephens for 11 yards. His second catch was what appeared to be a choice route and connected with Nix on the outside in the red zone.
Bryant ran the third most routes from a wide receiver in this game, and it looks like he is getting more snaps in the offense. Whether that will equate to more catches or even targets will be known as the weeks go by, but he needs to expand his route tree to be a true threat in the passing game.
I just wrote about his start through six games, but he still has time to turn it around and help out this offense. It's a low bar, but anything would help the inconsistencies we've seen in this wide receiver room.
Trent Sherfield Sr: No Grade
It wouldn't be fair to provide a grade on Trent Sherfield Sr against the Jets.
He ran only four routes and his role on the offense (especially in this game) is more inclined for his blocking skills than anything else. He did his part, but in terms of the passing game, the opportunities are not there for him. I do believe if he does get chances, he can make the most out of them.
We have seen Sherfield in the preseason make plays with Jarrett Stidham. I understand that it's just preseason, but he has also made plays for his former teams in the past, too.
The wide receiver room needs to be a lot more consistent if this team wants to reach the goals they have laid out for them.