How the Broncos will replace Emmanuel Sanders

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Four years ago, for one week, the Broncos showed they were capable of replacing Emmanuel Sanders.

That game is better remembered for being Brock Osweiler’s first start. The offense struggled at Soldier Field against a Bears defense helmed by then-coordinator Vic Fangio and their head coach at the time, John Fox. But with perhaps the best defense in Broncos history delivering the game-clinching two-point-conversion stop in the final moments, it was still just enough for a 17-15 win.

Sanders returned the next week; the Broncos put up 30 points in an overtime win over the Patriots, and normal service was restored.

Since then, the Broncos without Sanders have been a nightmare.

In the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the Broncos averaged 5.36 yards per play in games that Sanders played … and just 4.60 yards per play without him.

They averaged 6.06 yards per pass play with Sanders in the lineup … and just 4.62 yards per pass play when he wasn’t. They averaged 227.7 passing yards per game with him — and 195.4 without him.

Denver’s offense also mustered just 12.5 points, 1.4 touchdowns and 17.9 first downs per game without Sanders.

And then, of course, there is the final win-loss ledger from 2017 through today:

• With Sanders: 13-17
• Without Sanders: 0-8

Replicating his production is essential if the Broncos are to make anything tangible of the nine games that are left this season.

THE RECEIVERS

“It’s Courtland’s room now.”

That is what John Elway said Tuesday on his conference call following the trade of Sanders. He expects more of the Broncos’ leading receiver.

If Sutton can maintain or build on his production from the first seven games of the regular season, the Broncos will be thrilled. Defenses will focus on his downfield threat, just as they did late last season with more bracket coverage and attention from safeties.

But in those four games without Sanders last year, Sutton’s production suffered. His yardage per game dropped by 10 yards, from 46.5 to 36.5. His average per catch plummeted from 19.9 to 10.4.

Ten months later, he is not concerned about a repeat of last year. He shouldn’t be, because his route tree has sprouted more branches since then, making him a more complete receiver and a more complex assignment for opposing schemes.

“Whoever is matched up against me, whether it’s the No. 1 corner or No. 2 corner — whoever it is, safety over the top or safety not over the top, my job is to get open and make a play,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

That leaves DaeSean Hamilton. And while reserve receivers like Fred Brown, Juwann Winfree, Diontae Spencer and Tim Patrick will help at times, Hamilton must be the chain mover that he showed signs of becoming late last season for this to work.

Hamilton had 25 catches in four games without Sanders last year. If you pro-rate that over 16 games, that would put him on a 100-catch pace. But he averaged just 7.3 yards per reception.

If Hamilton can just add 2.7 yards per catch to boost that per-catch average to 10.0 yards, he’d be on a 1,000-yard season-long pace if he keeps catching 6.25 passes per game.

The first key is secure hands. A dropped potential touchdown in Week 1 contributed to a backslide in production and his use in the offense.

Once again, he gets his opportunity. What he does now will determine whether the Broncos go shopping for another receiver in the 2020 offseason.

“If somebody isn’t ready for an opportunity like this, I don’t know what they’re even in the NFL for, what they’re even playing for,” Hamilton said. “This is something that people look forward to, what millions of people wish they could possibly do. It shouldn’t even be a question of whether I’m ready. It’s more of a question of how fast I can get started.”

The Broncos need him to waste not a single moment.

RUNNING BACKS ARE ALREADY DOING THEIR PART

Not much more can be asked of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman in the passing game — unless, of course, they start adding repetitions at wide receiver to their respective repertoires.

With 20 and 25 catches respectively, Lindsay and Freeman represent the only 20-catch running-back duo on one team. Further, they are on pace for 46 and 57 receptions apiece; this would make them just the ninth and 10th running backs in Broncos history to catch more than 45 passes in a single season.

They’re doing their job. Broncos running backs and fullbacks have accounted for 31.8 percent of the team’s receptions and 24.7 percent of the team’s passing yards. These percentages rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NFL.

So they’re not the players who need to step up. They already are stepping up.

Tight ends, on the other hand …

TIGHT ENDS COULD — AND SHOULD — DO MORE

And that starts with rookie Noah Fant, who dropped three catchable passes in the Broncos’ Week 7 loss to the Chiefs, taking his season total of drops to five.

Even if Fant doesn’t get any yardage after the catch on those receptions, he would have finished the night with 79 yards on four catches if he had managed to hang on to those passes. Instead, he finished with seven yards on a single reception.

The opportunity for the biggest game of his brief career to date was literally in his hands.

“The common denominator is me,” Fant said this week, placing all of the blame upon himself. “I’ve got to catch the ball. So that’s pretty much [cut] and dry what could have been done better.”

The key to turning drops into big plays?

“Just execution,” he said. “I’ve made those catches a thousand times in practice. I’ve made them in games before. I made low catches in games. I’ve done all that in games before. So it’s just a fact of focusing on it and doing it.

“You can say, ‘I’ve done it before; I’ve done it before,’ but I’ve got to make them count in the moment.”

Denver’s tight ends currently rank 25th in the league in percentage of their team’s passing yardage, accounting for 16.0 percent of the Broncos’ overall passing production.

If Fant makes those three catches last week, the Broncos would rank 12th.

Thus, replacing Sanders — from the tight ends’ perspective — is simply a matter of capitalizing on the opportunities. If Fant and veteran Jeff Heuerman can do that, the Broncos will make up for the loss of Sanders … and then some, because they will open opportunities for Hamilton, Sutton and the running backs, too.

The solutions for life without Sanders are Fant and Hamilton. The opportunity is there. Now the Broncos will find out if they’re worthy.