ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Special-teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes has a massive task in front of him: to turn the Broncos’ special teams from a habitual weakness into a strength.
Despite having a pair of reliable and proficient kicking specialists in kicker Brandon McManus and punter Sam Martin, the Broncos’ predilection for coverage breakdowns, gaffes of execution and penalties have haunted the unit for the last five seasons.
The woes began when the Broncos moved on from veteran coordinator Joe DeCamillis, who was not brought back after the staff changes that followed Gary Kubiak’s Jan. 2, 2017 retirement from the head-coaching ranks.
Since 2017, the Broncos have been middling-to-bad by three league-wide special-teams metrics:
Football Outsiders DVOA
- 2021 rank: 30
- Highest rank: 24, 2019 and 2020
- Lowest rank: 31, 2018
- Average rank: 27.8
Pro Football Focus
- 2021 rank: 18
- Highest rank: 9, 2018
- Lowest rank: 32, 2020
- Average rank: 19.4
Rick Gosselin, former long-time NFL writer for the Dallas Morning News:
- 2021 rank: 27
- Highest rank: 21, 2019 and 2020
- Lowest rank: 31, 2017
- Average rank: 24.8
In those rankings, only once have the Broncos ranked in the upper half — their No. 9 ranking in Pro Football Focus’ metrics. Of course, that same year, they ranked 31st in Football Outsiders’ data and 24th in Gosselin’s calculations.
So, that’s the past. Stukes — at least publicly — doesn’t want to waste time impugning what went wrong.
“I’m not here to critique the scheme from last year,” he said. “That’s not my job. My job is to get the guys this year to play at a high level.
“Obviously, we saw that we were ranked last in kickoff return average and last in kickoff return average against, so that will be an emphasis going forward. There are certain techniques and fundamentals that myself and [special-teams assistant Mike] Mallory will teach these guys that hopefully will put them in position to make plays consistently. That’s all I ask for.”
The Broncos’ failures last season came despite George Paton’s stated emphasis on special-teams ability when comprising the back end of the roster. He noted after last year’s draft that all of the Day 3 picks were made with special teams in mind.
With a better scheme — and what he has learned in the past, including a recent stint as the afore-mentioned DeCamillis’ right-hand man with the Los Angeles Rams — he and Mallory believe they can get right what has gone wrong.
“I think we have a lot of talent on this roster,” Stukes said. “I think we have core special teams players on this roster. I think we have guys that can help and play at a high level on this roster so I’m excited to work with the guys we have in the building and watch the culture change as guys get familiar with the scheme.”
And the watchword is collaboration.
Variants of that word were uttered 11 times by Stukes and fellow coordinators Ejiro Evero and Justin Outten at their press conference. It’s essential for special teams because finding the right players involves working with Outten and Evero to ensure that the depth pieces on offense and defense are also plus players on special teams.
That could start with finding the players who are all-in. In roster construction, that could separate those who make it from those who don’t.
“The importance of the coaching staff and the leadership of Nate [Nathaniel Hackett], is very important, but also the players in the locker room and what they bring to the table,” Stukes said.
“I’ll keep saying this: They have to buy in to what we’re teaching them.”
If they do, the results should be different for a phase that has been defined by its shortcomings.
