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Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterDec 10, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With every broken tackle and defender left grasping for air on the big plays that seem to pop when Denver Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. has the ball, one question always seems to bubble to the surface: When will he get the ball more?
The continued attempts to find ways to get Mims more involved in the offense are still very much a work in progress, but Broncos coach Sean Payton has stepped on the accelerator a bit in recent weeks, lining him up in the backfield on occasion along with splitting him out at receiver.
“[He is] a talented player and finding ways to get him the ball is important,” said Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. “I think we’ve done a better job of that of late and will continue to do it.”
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Payton has said multiple times since Mims was drafted in the second round of the 2023 draft that the coaches may have held the receiver back at times. But that might be is changing. Through the first nine games of the season, Mims had seven receptions for 56 yards and one carry for 17 yards. In the past four, Mims has 12 receptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball nine times for 23 yards.
His offensive snap distribution hasn’t increased much, going from just under 15 per game over the first nine weeks to 16.5 per game from Weeks 10-13, but the production has.
“He’s been waiting for his opportunity to go out there and let it shine, and he did that,” said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton after last Monday night’s win over the Browns. ” … Marvin works really hard. He’s a really quiet guy. He doesn’t say a whole bunch, and just does the work he’s supposed to do. That’s all you can ask for.”
The reason the Broncos want Mims to get more touches was on full display against Cleveland. On third-and-11 from the Broncos’ 7-yard line early in the third quarter, Mims lined up in the slot before sprinting past Browns linebacker Jordan Hicks and outrunning a diving Grant Delpit to finish off a 93-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from quarterback Bo Nix.
93 YARDS TO THE !!!!!!!!!!@marvindmims | : ESPN pic.twitter.com/DbkJnOqy7j
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 3, 2024
“It was kind of a read-the-field route for me,” Mims said. “They ended up being in a cover-2, and I had the middle open and they kind of just shot it. Bo ended up trusting me and putting the ball in a perfect place, literally. It ended up being a big play for us.”
It was Nix’s first completion of more than 50 yards in his NFL career and the longest Broncos touchdown pass since Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal combined for a 93-yard score in 2008. It was also the type of play that could push defenses backs away from the line of scrimmage. Most teams have elected to crowd a Broncos’ offense that has mostly worked in the short and intermediate parts of the field, as Nix is 25th in the league in average yards per completion (10.3).
“Marvin, with his speed, (I) just had to get it out there,” Nix said. “He did a great job splitting the field. Their guy couldn’t get to it. Just kind of heard the crowd go crazy, and it was one of those awesome plays that you don’t get often, but they’re pretty fun.”
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It was the type of play that Mims has wanted to make since arriving in Denver last season. The Broncos haven’t quite figured out how to fully utilize the 5-foot-11, 182-pound speedster, who has caught 19 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns this season, as Payton has lamented the lack of success in involving him.
It’s why the Broncos have been looking for other methods. Since Denver’s Week 10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Payton has begun to occasionally line Mims up as a running back. Mims’ effectiveness on returns — he’s third in the league in average yards per punt return (13.5) and was a Pro Bowl returner a year ago — inspired his coach to expand his thinking.
“I think as a coach, I’m mad at myself that we didn’t begin looking at this earlier,” Payton said. “He does such a good job running when you watch him return punts that that vision can carry over to certain runs in your offense and then certain things in the passing game.”
Payton specifically pointed to Mims’ 37-yard reception against the Raiders in Week 12, when Mims lined up as the lone running back in a formation that included three receivers spilt wide, as an example of how Mims can create stress on opposing defenses. Mims ran a short route to the left and was left uncovered by the Raiders’ defense.
Nix to Mims for 36 yards!
: #DENvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/gkUAdUeqVS— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
Mims presents defenses a dilemma when lining up in the backfield — should they treat him like a running back or a fourth receiver?
“That third down-and-(5) where he kind of leaked out of the backfield, they dropped the coverage, it was hard for them to find,” Payton said. “… It’s hard to figure out what direction he’s going. It’s allowed us to expand some packages with him … We do give a lot of thought to what we think we’ll get defensively based on the other people that are in there with him.”
