Broncos Rookie Puts Pair of Wide Receivers on ‘Immediate Notice’

Getty Predominantly Orange's Travis Wakeman believes Marvin Mim's arrival puts K.J. Hamler and Montrell Washington on "immediate notice"

Second-round Denver Broncos draft pick Marvin Mims’ arrival to the Mile High City should put two incumbent wideouts, K.J. Hamler and Montrell Washington, “on immediate notice” in 2023 — this, at least, according to Predominantly Orange’s Travis Wakeman.

“Wide receiver was not the Broncos’ No. 1 need going into this draft and they likely didn’t need to trade up to get Marvin Mims, but he obviously did enough to impress Paton and Payton and wound up being the team’s top pick in this draft,” Wakeman said.

“His selection puts both K.J. Hamler and Montrell Washington on immediate notice as Mims can line up all over the formation and he can also contribute as a return man. Hamler hasn’t been able to stay healthy and if he can return punts and kicks, he makes Washington close to obsolete.”

Hamler had just seven catches for 165 yards during the 2022 season, having a hamstring injury wipe out his entire season following an October 30 Broncos 21-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Washington had just four catches but had two yards due to a -3 yard reception against the Carolina Panthers in a 23-10 loss on November 27.

Denver Broncos Could ‘Sprinkle in’ Targets for Rookie

Wakeman believes the Denver Broncos could “sprinkle in” targets for Mims, with Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton — who will not be traded this offseason after a surprising pivot from the front office — clearly ahead of the Oklahoma product in the receiving corps’ pecking order.

“The Broncos will use Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton as their top two pass-catchers but Payton will absolutely sprinkle in the rookie and give him a big role in 2023,” Wakeman wrote. “He is a quick receiver who can rack up yardage after the catch. He is a bit on the smaller side but we can’t knock him too much for that because he held up against top competition at Oklahoma.”

The Predominantly Orange writer wasn’t exactly bullish on the Mims pick, which required Denver to move from the No. 68 overall pick up to the second round to draft at No. 63, but conceded there could be a major upside for the Broncos’ offense because of it.

“I’m not going to pretend that I loved this pick, but it is definitely one that could pay off in a big way for the team,” Wakeman wrote.

Broncos Went for ‘High Character’ in NFL Draft

Wakeman didn’t come away from the 2023 NFL draft ready to say that the Denver Broncos addressed all of their primary positional needs, but he did have high praise for the prospects picked by Sean Payton and George Paton.

“Though the team didn’t address the positional needs that most were expecting it to, the combination of George Paton and Sean Payton were looking for high character guys who fit the system that will be put into place,” Wakeman wrote.

With locker room disarray a feature of the 2022 Broncos season with disagreements about Russell Wilson’s leadership, looking for high-character traits could be Payton’s way of making sure there are as few distractions as possible behind the scenes.