Jaylen Waddle just proved why the Broncos spent a fortune to acquire him

The Denver Broncos' usage of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was laughable in their Week 1 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.

They flipped the script in Week 2 against the Jaguars.

After seeing Waddle catch just one pass for two yards on three targets against the Chiefs, the Broncos made a concerted effort to get their prized offseason acquisition the ball. And it worked.

Waddle absolutely torched the Jacksonville Jaguars' secondary, racking up 8 receptions for 138 yards (17.3 yards per reception) on 10 targets. It took a complete whiff in Week 1, but Waddle just proved why the Broncos sent a king's ransom to the Dolphins to bring him to the Mile High City this offseason.

Jaylen Waddle's home debut for Broncos was the breakout the team needed

Jaylen Waddle not only came up big for the Broncos in Week 2, he came up clutch.

Yes, there was a concerted effort by the Broncos to get Waddle the football in Week 2, but it didn't feel forced. It felt like he was truly the missing piece for this offense, which has lacked an explosive element for a really long time.

And nobody has been this wide open for the Broncos at receiver during Bo Nix's career:

That is exactly the type of impact the Broncos were desperate for this offseason, and exactly why the team sent so much valuable NFL Draft capital to the Dolphins to get him.

Waddle is one of the league's biggest game-changers at the receiver position, and he proved it in just his second game with the Broncos.

Waddle nearly scored from midfield on one of the Broncos' drives in the early stages of the second quarter, showing off his vertical speed and the ability to take the top off the defense.

He was brought down at the 1-yard line, and the Broncos had some serious trouble trying to punch it in after that play, but this is just the beginning for Waddle in his time with the Broncos.

This performance against Jacksonville almost completely washed away the way the Broncos utilized him in Week 1 against the Chiefs. In fact, short of having this type of impact from Waddle in Week 1, it might have been a good thing that the Broncos had such a bad example of how not to use him right away at the start of the season.

It's inexplicable that a player of Waddle's caliber would have fewer than 8 targets in a game, much less be tied with Adam Trautman in the target department.

This was a course-correcting type of strategy from the Broncos, and it worked. This is why they gave up those picks to get Waddle in the offseason.

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