How Montrell Washington became the darling of training camp

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Montrell Washington wasn’t prepared for the call from the Broncos telling him he was about to be drafted.

“I was eating dinner,” Washington told DNVR.

His family was hanging out at his house but Washington didn’t expect to be drafted. His assumption was probably safe considering only five Samford Bulldogs had been drafted into the NFL in the past 50 years.

He especially didn’t expect to go to Denver, considering the Broncos never contacted him during the pre-draft process. He met with a handful of teams at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and a handful more throughout the rest of the draft process, but never Denver.

“I literally had no idea (I was on the Broncos’ draft board),” Washington said. “I didn’t think the Broncos would even be interested in me, obviously. It’s crazy how things work out.”

Just a few months later, it’s hard to imagine the Broncos without Washington.

Through the first seven practices, Washington has a strong case for breakout star of training camp. He strung together a bunch of good days and capped it off with a massive performance on Tuesday. He caught a wheel route out of the slot for a 30-yard gain, another deep ball on a slot fade and then he capped off the final two-minute drill of the day with a short touchdown from Brett Rypien as time expired. He celebrated with a standing backflip.

“It was fun. It was cool,” Washington said. “You’ve gotta move on from that and play the next play, go to the next day.”

Washington was brought in to be the team’s top returner but it’s easy to imagine him carving out a bigger role. That’s especially true after the Broncos lost Tim Patrick to a torn ACL during Tuesday’s practice.

Patrick was the first receiver to reach out to Washington with a FaceTime call after he was drafted. From there, he met Jerry Jeudy, and KJ Hamler and the rest of the group he says he loves.

They love him back.

“Montrell is my boy—he’s learning from me,” Hamler told reporters earlier this week. “I’ve kind of taken him under my wing because as a rookie, I came in thinking too much and worried about the plays. He’s done way better of just asking questions, being a sponge and just absorbing stuff. I’ve kind of been a bigger brother in this whole process.”

Hamler and Washington are similar players. Both are smaller receivers, who have the burst to separate so their size doesn’t matter as much. Both are probably best from the slot.

But who is faster? Hamler says he is—even in the late stages of a recovery from an ACL injury—but he’s willing to give the rookie a race to prove him wrong

“Montrell is a competitor,” Hamler said. “We’ll do it just for fun.”

Football-wise, Washington and Hamler have a lot in common, which makes it easy to pencil Washington in as an insurance policy for Hamler, or even as potential competition for the speed slot role down the line. But wiith Patrick sidelined, Washington may be able to carve out some of the reps left open.

While Washington isn’t a perfect fit to fill in for Patrick, there’s one less mouth to feed, which moves Washington up the food chain.

When asked who stepped up after Patrick left practice, Washington was the first name out of head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s mouth.

“He has worked so hard. I don’t think anybody really knew where he was going to put himself within the wide receiver rotation,” Hackett said. “He’s a guy that Russell (Wilson) has really latched onto and tried to push.”

If Russ is on Washington’s side, it’s probably safe to bet he’ll have a role this fall.