When he has been given opportunities, Broncos wide receiver Jordan Taylor has flashed a ton of potential. He already has uncommon size, a 6’5 receiver, but he is also pretty athletic and has shown he has the ability to go up and snatch the ball out of the air when given the chance.
NFL breakout players 2018: Will the Broncos give Jordan Taylor the chance to make even more amazing catches?
Taylor was good for some highlight-reel efforts last season, but are there enough snaps to go around in the Broncos offense?
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I know the Week 17 game between the Broncos and Chiefs was kind of like a JV game because so many starters didn’t play for either team, but Taylor still made some amazing highlight-reel catches over NFL-caliber defensive backs in that game.
He hauled in six passes for 65 yards against KC which was almost half of his production in both categories for the season. That included a gain of 30 on a jump ball where the defender was draped all over him and called for defensive pass interference (which was declined).
There was also a back shoulder fade that he jumped up and snagged out of the air that was initially ruled a catch, but ended up getting overturned because his toenail was out of bounds.
I don’t care who was in coverage on those plays, they were both impressive as hell. Moreover, it makes me wonder what Taylor could do with more opportunities. You just don’t find many wide receivers with that kind of size and skill combination because they don’t grow on trees.
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If he gets more opportunities this season it should be relatively easy for him to best his 13 receptions from last year or his career best of 16 as a rookie, as long as he gets in the games.
The problem for Taylor is that he is on a team that was already pretty loaded at wide receiver with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, and they just drafted another “big” wide out in Courtland Sutton this spring. Barring injury it is going to be hard, but not impossible, for Taylor to get more opportunities on the field this season than he has in the past.
The one thing he does have going for him this time around, however, is his film from last year. Now that the Broncos have seen he can perform under the lights, they should have more trust in what he can do when they put him in.
I believe such trust will be rewarded big time with Taylor finding a consistent role in the offense this season and his production making a big leap in his third season in the NFL.
Confidence level: Low
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