Denver, CO
Josh Reynolds emerges in Broncos’ search for playmakers in WR room: “He’s going to be a big part of what we do”
The Broncos were in desperation mode against the Pittsburgh Steelers when Sean Payton called Josh Reynolds’ number.
Trailing 10-0 with 7:43 left in the third quarter at Empower Field on Sunday, Sean Payton dug deep into his bag of tricks, putting running back Javonte Williams behind the center in shotgun with quarterback Bo Nix lined up outside.
Williams took the snap and handed the ball off to Courtland Sutton on a fly sweep before the veteran wideout pitched it back to Nix. With Reynolds streaking past the Pittsburgh secondary, Nix let loose with a high-arcing throw downfield, where the receiver leaped over two defenders to make a 49-yard catch down to the Steelers 7-yard line.
“We executed it just like we did in practice,” Reynolds said. “The look was there, and we were able to make a big play.”
Reynolds’ catch didn’t result in the outcome Denver hoped for. Two plays later, Nix threw an interception in the end zone to cornerback Cory Trice Jr.
Still, it highlighted Reynolds’ impact on the Broncos’ offense.
The former Detroit Lion emerging as Denver’s top pass catcher may not have been a dominant storyline before the start of the season. But through two games, he has carried a wide receiver room in need of playmakers.
“(I’m) pleased with what he’s doing,” Nix said of Reynolds. “He played really well down the stretch (against Pittsburgh). He (made) some catches and (found) zones in the defense and got us some key conversions.”
When Reynolds signed with the Broncos this offseason, he was intended to be a reliable second or third option, similar to his role in Detroit, where he was third in receiving yards (608) in 2023.
Instead, he has done a fair amount of heavy lifting. Reynolds has a team-best 138 yards on nine receptions and 13 targets. Against the Steelers, he had four catches for 93 yards — the most by a Broncos pass-catcher in a game since Sutton totaled 91 yards against the Dolphins in Week 3 of last season.
The Week 2 yardage total was also third-most in Reynolds’ career. The last time he recorded 90-plus yards in a game was in 2022.
On the few occasions when Nix has successfully taken shots downfield, Reynolds was on the receiving end. Nix is 2 for 8 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus, with both completions involving Reynolds. The duo converted a 25-yard completion against Seattle in Week 1 before executing the successful flea flicker in the loss to the Steelers.
During training camp, Reynolds stood out by using his size to make contested catches. That has translated into the regular season with a contested catch rate of 50%, according to PFF. Reynolds also has been a reliable player in moving the chains, with a team-best six catches resulting in a first down.
“He’s going to be a big part of what we do,” Nix said.
Unfortunately, Reynolds’ performance thus far isn’t enough to overshadow the glaring issues within the passing game. Outside of Reynolds, Denver’s wide receivers have combined for 163 yards on 18 catches.
Sutton, viewed as Denver’s top receiver, has gotten off to a rough start. He only has five catches for 64 yards despite having a team-high 16 targets. Rookie wide receiver Devaughn Vele, who missed the team’s matchup against Pittsburgh due to a rib injury, has more receptions (eight) in one game than Sutton in two.
Granted, pass protection and Nix’s struggles with his mechanics have played a part in receiving production. At the same time, Sutton and the rest of the receivers’ inability to create separation has been an issue. Sutton has an average target separation — the average distance between the receiver and the nearest defender at pass arrival — of 2.5 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.
As a whole, the Broncos are 17th in the league average target separation (3.4). However, they are 24th in average yards of separation on intermediate throws (2.3) and 25th on deep passes (1.4).
Against press coverage, the Broncos’ separation numbers for their top pass catchers — Sutton and Reynolds — are alarming. Sutton is averaging two yards of separation when facing press coverage while Reynolds generates 1.5.
“We’ve got to separate a little bit more and give our guys better opportunities when we’re getting a lot of match or man coverage,” Payton said. “We’re counting on the one-on-one matchups, and we need to get into some other schemes that I think can help that way.”
Broncos add OLB depth: Denver is signing outside linebacker Andrew Farmer II to its practice squad, a source told The Denver Post. Farmer, an undrafted free agent from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, played in eight games (60 defensive snaps) for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023.
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Originally Published:
Arguably the biggest reason that the Denver Broncos are going to be playing in the 2024 NFL playoffs has been the quarterback play of rookie Bo Nix. The rookie out of Oregon by way of Auburn threw for 29 touchdowns and ran for four additional scores. He has been led this season by Broncos’ quarterbacks coach and former Giants signal-caller Davis Webb.
As the story goes, the Buffalo Bills had asked Webb to be their quarterbacks coach during his tenure as a quarterback in the AFC East, but he had decided to keep playing. Sean Payton was able to snag him as his QB whisperer, and his work in Denver has been impressive. In two years, the quarterback play of the Broncos has steadily improved and now reached the point where their 30+ touchdown rookie is arguably the biggest reason they are in the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Davis Webb certain to draw interest outside of Broncos organization soon
Webb flew relatively under the radar in 2023, even as the quarterback play of Russell Wilson returned to a strong form. Since then, his name has begun to gain more attention on the national stage. As coaching changes begin to take place across the league, Webb figures to be a name that comes up consistently. As coordinator openings are now rumored and openings are popping up, Webb has already been tied to a fairly high-profile job.
Newsday’s Tom Rock shared on X that Webb could be a name to watch as the Giants continue evaluating their coaching staff after a disappointing 2024. Webb, a former Giants quarterback himself, could become a strong offensive coordinator candidate for multiple vacancies. If Vance Joseph, who has been tied to the Jets opening, is to take a head coaching job elsewhere after this year, Webb could be a strong candidate to follow him as an offensive coordinator.
It has been a decent amount of time since top Denver lieutenants were named in coaching searches around the league, but between Joseph, Webb, and the potential for others such as Pete Carmichael, Zach Strief, and David Shaw to get tabbed for jobs, the Broncos could be looking to rebuild aspects of their coaching staff in the next few months. However, there is no reason not to have faith in Sean Payton to once again build one of the NFL’s premier coaching staffs, just as he did heading into the 2024 season.
The mood in the Denver Broncos locker room on Sunday following the team’s playoff-clinching win over the Kansas City Chiefs was jubilant. Tones of triumph, relief, elation… the Broncos embodied it all and for understandable reasons.
Denver snapped its eight-year playoff drought, finishing the 2024 regular season 10-7. But before the Broncos could get into game-planning mode for the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard Round, head coach Sean Payton finally gave fans a glimpse of the post-game locker room scene at Empower Field at Mile High.
For the first time this season, the secretive and protective Payton allowed the cameras in for his post-game locker room speech.
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You can see how excited and greaful Broncos CEO and co-owner Greg Penner was as he greeted the players and coaches at the door, exchanging hugs, fist-bumps, and words of encouragement. We learned from Coach Payton at the podium that his game balls went to the Walton/Penner ownership group.
“The game balls today went to ownership,” Payton said on Sunday. “They’ve been tremendously supportive. Man, I’ve been to a number of pro teams, but I told the players, you don’t get to pick a lot of times where you end up, but you guys are in a good spot. This is a group that cares about you.”
Payton has often talked about how big of a selling point the Walton/Penners were in his decision to come out of retirement and take the Broncos job. They rewarded Payton with a lucrative contract and traded a first and second-round draft pick to the New Orleans Saints to acquire his coaching rights.
Payton knew the long-standing tradition of winning in the Mile High City and was well aware of the legacy created by all-timers like John Elway, Peyton Manning, Mike Shanahan, and late owner Pat Bowlen, but in his NFL experience dating back to the ’90s, he believed that the caliber of a team’s ownership group is one of its predictors of the future.
“In today’s pro sports, I think it’s probably one of the bigger indicators of success,” Payton said of ownership. “I know for me, personally, when I went through this process, that meant a lot to me relative to where, and I said that it wasn’t like I was looking to choose to join Patrick Mahomes in this division, you know? But the ownership group here was the reason. They got the game balls.”
Kudos to Payton for relenting and acquiescing to the cameras being the locker room following Sunday’s win so that Broncos Country can partake in the message and the celebration. Now it’s on to Buffalo.
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In an op-ed published in the Colorado Springs Gazette, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman accused Denver Mayor Mike Johnston of not being truthful about how migrants, including Venezuelan gang members, ended up in Aurora.
Coffman said he filed an open records request that shows Johnston used the cover of non-profits to quietly dump migrants in other cities.
Johnston denied the allegations, stating, “The City of Denver never places anyone anywhere.”
Johnston said he was blindsided by the op-ed that included a headline claiming, “Denver’s Mayor offloads immigrants on Aurora.”
“I’m surprised by this because Mayor Coffman and I have a collaborative relationship,” Johnston said.
According to Johnston, Denver contracted with two non-profits to find housing for migrants after more than 40 thousand of them were bussed here from Texas last year.
“We give them dollars and they decide on housing,” Johnston said. “Every day it’s looking for where that housing is and identifying what open unit it is. You might go to Thornton, you might go to Northglenn, you might go to Denver.”
Mayor Coffman said one of the non-profits worked with a landlord to place migrants in three apartment buildings in Aurora, where police say Venezuelan gang members terrorized residents. The incidents there drew the attention of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to carry out mass deportations, or what he calls “Project Aurora”.
Coffman said Johnston has refused to say how many migrants were placed in Aurora, so he filed an open records request to obtain the contract the city signed with the nonprofit. He said the contract included a clause allowing the agency to put migrants in other cities without notifying them.
In his op-ed, Coffman said, “Aurora has suffered from a national embarrassment that has harmed the image of our city in a way that could have lasting economic consequences. As the Mayor of Aurora, I’m asking that Mayor Mike Johnston be transparent and tell the truth about what he did.”
Johnston said he bears no responsibility for what’s happened in Aurora, “We run the City of Denver and he runs Aurora and they control the outcomes in their city. We control the outcomes in ours. We’re responsible to our voters and he’s responsible to his.”
Coffman said the nonprofit is required to report to city officials how many migrants are placed in other cities, but he says Johnston continues to dodge the question about how many migrants were sent to Aurora.
President-elect Trump takes office Jan. 20th. His Border Czar has said he will prioritize the deportation of migrants who’ve committed crimes.
In November, Johnston told the Denverite he would resist all deportations. He now says he will cooperate with federal immigration agents in deporting violent criminals.
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