The Denver Broncos added wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in the offseason to finally give the offense the skillset at wide receiver they were missing for years. Waddle has exceptional vertical speed, but is also a sharp route-runner and separator thanks to that.
But that does not mean the Broncos didn't have slick talent on offense before Waddle's addition. The Broncos are actually pretty flush with talent on offense and, when healthy, could have the most complete unit in the NFL.
And that does factor in Marvin Mims Jr, the team's All-Pro returner and speedster of a receiver who juset has not seen his role grow much since entering the NFL back in 2023.
Sean Payton has said for years that Denver Broncos WR Marvin Mims Jr needs more touches...
Thanks to BolieveInNix on Twitter/X, we have years worth of evidence from head coach Sean Payton that Mims needs more touches. Yes, years long:
He’s been saying he needs to get Marvin Mims Jr. more touches for three years now https://t.co/ksaEMZjGJS pic.twitter.com/AlcNICEKw9
— ᴄʜᴀsᴇ (@BolieveInNix) October 26, 2026
So, we're now four years in of Payton saying Mims needs more touches, but we just have not seen that happen. Here are Mims touches each year of his career thus far, also sorted by touches per game in the regular season:
2023: 31, 1.94 touches/game
2024: 52, 3.10 touches/game
2025: 49, 3.27 touches per game
2026: 9, 1.80 touches per game
Mims is averaging 10.2 yards per touch in his career. He also owns, according to Pro Football Reference, a 107.6 career passer rating when targeted. Mims is an efficient player when he gets the ball, and he's almost always a part of a big play as well - he caught a go-ahead touchdown pass against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round last year, and also drew a pass interference penalty that set the Broncos up for a game-winning field goal later that same game.
The fourth-year pro is simply a big play waiting to happen, so you do believe Payton when he says he needs to get Mims more touches, but he's never averaged more than 3-ish per game, and he's currently on pace for the lowest touches/game rate of his career.
Going forward, we'll see if Mims is given more touches, but thus far, it's been an empty promise from Payton. The Broncos did use a second-round pick on Mims, so they believed in him enough to use a very valuable pick.
With the Broncos offense searching for more answers, Mims could end up being one of those answers. Given the data, Payton needs to simply prove that his statement to get Mims more touches is not another empty promise.
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