Broncos WR Courtland Sutton studying one of the greatest seasons ever
One of the Denver Broncos' best offensive players uses tape of one of the best individual seasons ever. Courtland Sutton wants to improve; you can see it every time he steps on the field, so he watches Michael Thomas' 2019 campaign.That season was not only Thomas' career season but also one of the greatest seasons […]
One of the Denver Broncos' best offensive players uses tape of one of the best individual seasons ever. Courtland Sutton wants to improve; you can see it every time he steps on the field, so he watches Michael Thomas' 2019 campaign.
That season was not only Thomas' career season but also one of the greatest seasons ever by a receiver. Sure, there is the year Calvin "Megatron" Johnson ended just a tad bit short of 2,000 receiving yards; however, what Thomas did in 2019 was special too.
That season Thomas finished with over 1,700 receiving yards and broke the single-season record for catches with 149. From then on out, he was dubbed the 'slant god,' unless you're Malcolm Jenkins in practice, who called him 'slant boy.'
That season is still a great one to study, especially for a guy like Sutton.
“It’s interesting. I actually just got—not too long ago—maybe a week or two ago, I just got Michael Thomas’ 2019 targets from his year that he broke the record," Sutton told media on Thursday. "Just diving into it, [I’ve] been able to see how he may have run a route that we are learning right now. Figuring out ways to be able to get open because, obviously, he had a really good year that year. So, to be able to find ways to implement the things he did well into my game, I feel like we’re going to have a lot of success.”
Those two are very similar players in how they each play and are both built. Thomas has yet to do much since then, and that is widely due to having injury problems, bad injury problems. But also, even when he has played, you can tell the systems he is in are less effective for him than he was in Sean Payton's system.
Sutton can be a guy who replicates similar things in this offense. I'm not saying he will get 1,700 receiving yards or 140 receptions, but he will be used the same way. He will be a guy they throw it to over the middle, whether it be short or intermediate routes, and then when the run game is established, they will take shots down the field.
He won't get those kinds of numbers, especially with guys like Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick on the team, but he can do something special in this system.
Featured Image Via Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
