How a meeting with Vic Fangio got Michael Ojemudia on the right track

Broncos coach Vic Fangio and his defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell, have seen almost everything before.

They’ve seen young players develop, hit a snag and eventually flourish. So, Michael Ojemudia saw his defensive workload drop to zero snaps for back-to-back games last month, they knew this wasn’t an end for their third-round cornerback.

In the Broncos’ first eight games, Ojemudia played at least 73 percent of the snaps each time. That extensive work resulted from a combination of A.J. Bouye’s shoulder injury and Ojemudia’s rapid progress that thrust him into a role in the Broncos’ nickel package even when they opened the season with Bouye and Bryce Callahan both healthy.

But missed tackles and coverage lapses began to mount. He missed at least one tackle in seven of the Broncos’ first eight games this season. Pro Football Focus assessed him with four missed tackles in a Week 8 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Opposing quarterbacks picked at him and found success.

By Week 10 in Las Vegas, with Bouye and Callahan available, the slot cornerback role passed to undrafted rookie Essang Bassey. There was no room for Ojemudia, not even in the nickel sub package. He didn’t take a defensive snap for two weeks.

Understandably upset when he learned of the changes, Ojemudia went to see Fangio.

The rookie found reassurance.

“He just told me straight-up that he thinks the other lineup is going to be better for this game, that ‘I’m not down on you, I know what kind of player you can be, and when you get back on the field, just show us what you can do,'” Ojemudia recalled.

Fangio also left Ojemudia with a piece of advice:

“Your opportunity is going to come faster than you think, so just be ready.”

In the end, it didn’t even take three games.

In the meantime, Ojemudia worked and watched. Donatell was not available for this stretch; he faced a bout with COVID-19 that saw him hospitalized. But Donatell knew that this time could help the rookie.

“I think it’s really cool when they get a break, like Bassey,” Donatell said, referring to an early-season stretch in which Bassey was removed from sub packages. “He went for a few weeks and he got a little break, because they learn when they’re out in stretches, and if you guide them right, they’ll respond.

“So, [Bassey] was out for a few weeks and he’s a really bright guy that picks up on things, so he watched a lot. He watched Bryce. He watched A.J.”

What Ojemudia saw settled him and taught him how to have a professional mindset to their daily work.

“Definitely how they approach the game. How savvy they are,” Ojemudia said. “Even if you’re not in the game you’re taking mental reps Even if you’re not in the game, you’re still in it like you’re playing.

“So, just watching those guys and taking tactics from them and just implementing it in my game is why I think I played a little better when I got back in the lineup.”

Ojemudia’s tackling has been sure since Callahan’s foot injury against the Saints thrust Ojemudia back into a primary role. His confidence is higher. And when Donatell returned to practice, he noticed Ojemudia’s growth.

“When he was back into the practice plan, I saw the spike,” Donatell said. “I could see there was a new intensity. You could see that he was tackling better, more physical, putting bodies on people, and he has more knowledge.

“In these long NFL seasons, if a guy gets a little break in there every once in a while, it doesn’t hurt anything.”

Two solid weeks now have Ojemudia set for the biggest challenge of his career to date.

In last Sunday’s 32-27 win over the Panthers, Denver had the benefit of facing a Panthers receiving corps without its leader in receiving yardage, D.J. Moore. Barring a change of events between now and Saturday, that will not be the case against the Buffalo Bills and Stefon Diggs. He already has a career high in receiving yards, leads the NFL with 100 receptions — and has become the league’s most potent weapon on hitch routes.

Preparing for Diggs will require extra film study in a short week.

“That’s why you’ve got to watch a lot of film,” Ojemudia said. “A lot of guys have a certain type of release or they show some things by their splits or whatever. So, definitely watching a lot of film and being focused and having good technique.

“It’s going to be tough because he’s definitely mastered that route — but just watching film, picking up little things, just studying him all week is how you can get an edge during the game.”

Difficult? Definitely. But if Ojemudia can hold his own Saturday, he will have taken another step toward being a significant part of the Broncos’ defensive plan for 2021 and beyond.