Marvin Mims has the ability to take the top off of a defense with his straight-line speed, and he did that during Thursday’s OTA practice. How is the second-year wide receiver handling more manufactured looks inside of the Broncos offense?
Denver Broncos WR Marvin Mims ready to handle more in 2024
Marvin Mims rookie season saw a combination of explosive play ability and frustration for Denver’s top draft pick from 2023.
He found himself in the mix of a receiver room that had Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and Tim Patrick ahead of him in training camp. After Patrick’s injury during training camp, more opportunities opened up for Mims and other receivers.
Mims breakout game in the NFL came in Week 2 where he hauled in two catches for 113 yards and a touchdown against the Washington Commanders. He showcased his speed and ability to track the football and Broncos Country quickly became enamored with what he could be.
Unfortunately for him, the Broncos offense and Sean Payton struggled to consistently utilize him that way for the remainder of the season.
“I think one of the challenges is… I’ve said this, and I’ll say it again,” Payton said regarding Mims. “We were as much responsible for, I don’t want to say holding him back, but you’re trying to get snaps with [former WR] Jerry Jeudy, with [WR] Courtland [Sutton]. I think we’ll see a lot of growth from Year 1 to Year 2. He’s tough. He had a really good play today. We know he’s a good returner. We felt that was one of the strengths obviously that we saw on tape. But we saw transitional speed, we saw the things that you need to have at that receiver position. So I don’t think it was his development as much as, and I don’t want to say a crowded room, but just trying to create enough touches for those guys. Now we have a room, and we have a lot of young players. Size is certainly something you see at the receiver position right now. I’m anxious as we go through this process to watch these guys. This first half of these OTAs has gone really good, I mean really good. I told them that. I like the energy. I feel like we’re younger, and you kind of feel that at practice.”
Mims could impact return game even more in 2024
Mims made the NFL Pro Bowl games last year as a rookie, in combination with receiving All-Pro recognition as a return specialist.
With the NFL’s changing of the kickoff rules this year, Mims has an opportunity to do even more damage in that department with the league’s emphasis on keeping returns in the game.
“It’s more exciting,” Mims said of the rule changes. “The whole purpose of them changing the rule was to get more production out of the kickoff. Kick returns are supposed to be a good play. Last year there were a lot of touchbacks [and] this year is supposed to be an actual play. It’s new to everybody, so we’ll see how it goes.”
He averaged 26.5 yards per kick return last season on 15 total attempts, including a 99-yard touchdown. In the punt return department, Mims averaged 16.4 yards per punt return on 19 attempts.
It will be interesting to see how or if Marvin Mims will stay on kick return, especially if he has a more prominent role on offense this season.
