John Brown could have an impact for the Broncos sooner rather than later

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Entering the 2021 season, the Broncos’ wide receiver group had it all. Not only was Zach Azzanni’s group stacked with talented, but they had all of their bases covered.

Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick were the big-body receivers who turned 50-50 passes into 80-20 balls.

Jerry Jeudy was the masterful route runner who was always open.

And K.J. Hamler was the electric speedster that threatened to take a pass to the house on any given play.

Less than a month into the season, of their top four wide outs to start the year, Denver was left with just their two big-body receivers after Jeudy and Hamler suffered serious injuries.

The good news is Jeudy will return to the field this year. The bad news is Hamler and his blazing speed won’t after he tore his ACL in Week 3.

In the two games following Hamler’s injury, Denver’s offense hit a wall as they went from averaging over 25 points per game to a mere 13. Certainly, that wasn’t all because of Hamler’s absence, but it was clear Denver had lost their deep threat.

Enter John Brown.

On Tuesday, the Broncos signed an older version of Hamler by adding Brown to their practice squad.

At 5-foot-10, 179 pounds, Brown has nearly the exact same frame as Hamler, who stands at 5-foot-9, 178 pounds. While Hamler wasn’t able to run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, due to a hamstring injury, it was rumored he flirted with a sub-4.3 time. Brown ran a 4.34.

“Coached against him several times. He’s fast. He’s a big-play receiver,” Vic Fangio said on Wednesday, explaining the addition of Brown. “Runs well with it after he catches it. In the past, he’s been a good receiver.”

In his seven year career, Brown has started 65 games and has racked up two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. The 2014 third-round pick has averaged 46 catches per year for 678 yards and nearly 4.5 touchdowns.

Last year, with the Buffalo Bills, the speedster caught 33 passes for 458 yards and three touchdowns. But despite being a 1,000-yard receiver just two years ago, the Broncos signed him to their practice squad to allow him time to pick up Denver’s offense.

But just because he’s on the practice squad on Tuesday doesn’t mean he won’t play on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“How quickly he’ll be able to join is—we’ll see. These next three days will tell,” Fangio stated on Wednesday, hinting that he’s not ruled out Brown for the Raiders game. “Obviously coming in cold with no background in our system, he’s got some heavy lifting to do to learn it. We’ll see how he looks, see what he can learn and make a decision by the end of the week.”

While Brown has a difficult task ahead of him, it’s certainly not an impossible one. In fact, just two weeks ago, David Moore made the exact same leap.

Moore signed with the Broncos on a Tuesday and played receiver for Denver that following Sunday. In that game, Moore played in 31 percent of the offensive snaps. So it’s certainly possible the speedster can make a similar jump in just a matter of days.

Despite initially signing to the practice squad, John Brown could be suiting up in Orange & Blue as soon as Sunday.