The Denver Broncos are flush with receiving talent hungry for opportunity, and one ball to satiate them all. It's a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.
At its root is explosive second-round rookie Marvin Mims, who's been targeted just 14 times this season despite pacing the team in yards per reception (22.4). Although immensely talented, Mims has fallen well behind Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy — and, at times, even Brandon Johnson — in the WR pecking order.
Can that change over the Broncos' final nine games?
“It’s a good question," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi conceded Friday. "It’s something that always happens when you have a number of good players. There’s always somebody that you can consider is getting shorted because there are only so many plays and so many balls. I think, sometimes on the outside, there’s this impression that they’re not trying to get the ball to somebody. If you sit in the meetings, there’s always this—you look at the plan, you’re like, ‘Alright, where’s [WR] Marvin getting his touches? Where’s Courtland getting his touches? Where’s Jerry getting his touches?’. It may feel balanced in your gameplan meetings and we just didn’t get to those plays. That certainly happens sometimes. Or we got to them, and the coverage dictated that the ball didn’t go to who you were hoping it went to. There’s a lot of factors that go into it, but I think we’ve all seen what Marvin’s capable of. We’re certainly mindful of trying to get him involved.”
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Take away Mims' dynamic work on special teams, where he leads the NFL in yards per punt return (20.3), and the Oklahoma product still has done enough to warrant more offensive touches — such as his 60-yard touchdown in Week 2 or his five catches of 20-plus yards. He's a big play waiting to happen, which is why Denver traded up for him in April's draft.
And yet, Mims can't seem to get (or stay) on the field, having played 28 snaps or less in each contest thus far. Amazingly, he logged a season-high 39% of snaps during the Broncos' Week 8 upset of Kansas City but finished with one reception for zero yards.
"It’s certainly a fair question. How do we get Marvin more touches, and how do we incorporate him more into what we’re doing offensively?" head coach Sean Payton pondered aloud last Monday. "I’m sitting here looking at a notepad with his jersey number on it in front of me. That’s our job as coaches. We really believe we have a good young talented player. Obviously, there are other players on the offense that deserve the same type of attention relative to play design. We’re going to work our tails off to move that needle where he’s getting opportunities, not only in the passing game. He just does a lot of things well, and he’s really good with the ball in his hands.”
A rare exception to the diva archetype exhibited by legions of professional pass-catchers, Mims hasn't been a squeaky wheel regarding his lack of usage. But it stands to reason that a generous dose of grease is coming his way — perhaps as soon as Monday night when the Broncos match aerial attacks with the Buffalo Bills.
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