The Denver Broncos had a solid special-teams unit last season, but solid wasn’t enough for Sean Payton. He made his disappointment with the unit clear by firing the special teams coordinator, and since then, improving the unit has been a priority.
It all started with the hiring of Darren Rizzi, one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL, to lead the special teams units. Payton and Rizzi worked together with the New Orleans Saints, and are now working together again.
However, even with Rizzi, he still needs the players to work with, and the Broncos had some good special teams players last year. Guys like Nate Adkins and JL Skinner were core special teams players, and both did a great job there last year.
Both P.J. Locke and Justin Strnad have been known as special teams players during their careers, though Locke took a backseat in that area last season due to his starting on defense. Strnad ended up starting on defense and still played the eighth-most special teams snaps, where he remained one of the best.
In terms of specialists, Will Lutz is a reliable kicker, and Mitchell Fraboni is a solid long snapper. They also have an All-Pro returner in Marvin Mims Jr. to inspire confidence in their return game. However, both Payton and Rizzi saw the need to make a change with their punter, allowing Riley Dixon to leave in free agency.
This led to the Broncos drafting Jeremy Crawshaw, who was a favorite of Rizzi during the pre-draft process. With no other punter on the roster, the job is Crawshaw's to lose, and of course, it is ideal for Rizzi’s guy to win the job.
Speaking of free agency, the Broncos brought in two key special teams players in Trent Sherfield and Sam Franklin. With the loss of Tremon Smith, one of their gunners, who had the highest special teams snap count last season. So, you have to replace him and those lost snaps.
Devon Key is another player who had a high snap count last year, and his play on defense left a lot to be desired, and his special teams play wasn’t great either. So, with Sherfield and Franklin, ideally, you have Smith and Key’s replacements, even though Key will have a chance to compete and stick around last year.
So, George Paton and Sean Payton gave the pieces to Rizzi to have a great special teams unit, but now is the time to start putting it all together. However, they are still missing one piece, and Rizzi has an edge in finding someone to fill it.
With the new kickoff return rules, which Rizzi helped design, they need to find another returner to pair with Mims. That is the lone piece they are missing, and it could come from almost anywhere. Wherever they find that piece, the fact that Rizzi helped design the rules gives him an advantage in finding that piece.
With all the Broncos have done to improve their special teams unit, expectations are high, and failure is not an option. Rizzi will have a longer leash with Payton than the previous special teams coordinator, but the players don’t have that same privilege.
