The greatest wide receiver in Broncos’ history has become a big fan of their current receivers.
Rod Smith, who holds all the team’s major career receiving records, has been watching closely as Courtland Sutton’s career has gotten back on track and how Denver’s young receivers have ascended.
“Man, it looks really good,’’ Smith, who attended a practice last Thursday, said of the Broncos’ receiving room. “I’m seeing guys that work really hard, and the great thing that (Broncos coach Sean Payton) has done is create a lot of competition in that room. And those guys have stepped up and made plays.”
Smith was active for the Broncos from 1995-2006, setting team receiving records with 849 catches, 11,389 yards and 68 touchdowns. He had eight 1,000-yard seasons and won Super Bowls with Denver in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Leading the receiving group is Sutton, who is entering his eighth Broncos season and has come back strong after a torn ACL limited him to one game in 2020 and bogged him down a bit after that. Sutton last month signed a four-year, $92 million contract extension to take him through the 2029 season.
“He’s a baller,’’ Smith said of Sutton, who caught four passes for 83 yards in just over a quarter of action in Saturday’s 28-19 win at New Orleans in the preseason finale. “When the ball is in the air to him it’s not a 50-50 ball, it’s more like 80-20 that he’s going to go up and catch it. I think the coaches are putting him in a good position to when the ball is thrown up, he’s going to get it.”
If Sutton fulfills the life of his contract, he would equal Smith for having 12 active seasons as a Denver receiver. But could he challenge Smith’s records?
Sutton last season caught 81 passes for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns. If he were to average those same statistics over the next five years, he would after 12 seasons have 784 receptions for 10,745 yards and 72 touchdowns.
So how would Smith feel if Sutton ever were to threaten his records?
“They’re mine until you take them,” Smith said with a laugh. “Hopefully, we’re winning because you get a lot more passing when you’re losing. So, I’d rather have us winning a Super Bowl and I can keep the record, and he can go get a Super Bowl.”
After Sutton, Denver’s receiving group includes Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, rookie Pat Bryant and Trent Sherfield. Armed with that kind of depth, the Broncos last Wednesday traded Devaughn Vele, who caught 41 passes for 475 yards last season as a rookie.
“I think Mims is (the No. 2 receiver) in my opinion,’’ Sutton said. “He works his butt off, and he can make plays anywhere. He’s made his mark on special teams, but I can promise you this guy with the way he played (in the second half of last season), he’s looking forward to lining up at receiver and making teams pay.”
Mims, entering his third season, is a top-notch punt and kickoff returner. But he came on as a receiver in 2024, catching 32 passes for 447 yards in the final eight games to finish the year with 39 receptions for 503 yards.
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Franklin caught 28 passes for 263 yards as a rookie last season. Smith said he has improved greatly.
“He just made plays,’’ Smith said of Frankin’s showing in the preseason, which included four catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns in Denver’s 27-7 win over Arizona on Aug. 16. “I think his confidence is sky high, and I think he’s going to take that into the regular season.”
Smith likes how the 6-foot-3 Bryant has looked since being a third-round pick in April from Illinois. He said his showing and Bryant, 22, being five years younger made the 6-5 Vele expendable.
“Pat Bryant made it easier for them to move on being a young big body,’’ Smith said. “He made some heck of plays in the opportunities he had.”
Smith is looking forward to seeing the Broncos’ receivers in person this season in Denver and perhaps also in London. He said he’s hopeful of making arrangements with a company that will send him to London for promotional purposes in conjunction with the Broncos’ Oct. 12 game there against the New York Jets.
Denver Broncos running back C.J. Anderson (22) breaks free for the game-winning touchdown against the New England Patriots during overtime of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, in Denver. The Broncos defeated the Patriots 30-24. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Jack Dempsey
What I’m hearing
–Between 2010-18, California lost nine straight times to Stanford in the Big Game. Then-Bears running back C.J. Anderson played in defeats in 2011 and 2012 and later lost $2,000 in five other losses. When Anderson was with the Broncos from 2013-17, he said then-general manager and Stanford alum John Elway approached him all five seasons for $400 bets on the game. “I lost $400 for five years straight to John Elway,’’ Anderson said of the legendary quarterback. “It was an automatic thing. He came to me and said, ‘Big Game this week, 400 dollars.’ That’s what it was. I go, ‘Yes, boss.’ You can’t tell your boss no.’’
–When Austin King was offensive coordinator at Dayton from 2015-19, he coached tight end Adam Trautman for each of his five seasons at the FCS school that doesn’t give athletic scholarships. King, now Denver’s tight ends coach, said no way would Trautman, in his sixth NFL season and third year with the Broncos, have remained at Dayton had there then been NIL money. “Nowadays, I doubt he would graduate from there because some of the other schools would have paid him a whole bunch of money to transfer in,’’ King said of Trautman, who caught 70 passes for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2019 before being selected by the Saints in the third round of the 2020 draft.
What I’m seeing
–Third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a vested veteran, so he won’t have to go through waivers if the Broncos release him in an effort to get him on their practice squad. However, agent Erik Burkhardt told The Denver Gazette when Ehlinger signed with Denver in April that “he had other opportunities and (Indianapolis) wanted him back” after he spent his first four seasons with the Colts. So, it’s not out of the question another team could want Ehlinger on a 53-man roster if he is released by the Broncos by Tuesday’s deadline for rosters to be trimmed to the regular-season limit.
–There were three undrafted rookies on the Broncos’ initial 53-man roster last year and four in 2023, but it’s uncertain if any will make it on Denver’s initial regular-season roster. That shows how much better Denver’s overall roster has become. Undrafted rookies hoping to break through and earn a spot include wide receiver Courtney Jackson, offensive linemen Xavier Truss and Clay Webb and linebackers Jordan Turner and Karene Reid. Outside linebacker Johnny Walker had a chance until suffering in training camp a season-ending right foot-ankle injury.