Often times when I hear the phrase “contest catch guy” I get the heeby-jeebies. Courtland Sutton was a boom or bust player to me coming out of the 2018 NFL Draft. You saw the big time plays but he did it for SMU and didn’t really create a ton of separation. It was hard to know exactly what you were getting. What’s clear two years later is that Sutton is a big time hit. Sutton has become the most underappreciated wide receivers in the NFL. Sutton isn’t just a hit. He might be one of the best in the business.
Coming out of that draft, Sutton was 6-foot-4 running a 4.57 – 40 time. We know the story on contested catch guys. Well, Sutton has become an outlier because he wins basically all of them. It wasn’t just a fluky thing at SMU. It translated to the NFL.
Sutton capped off his 2019 season with 72 receptions, 1,112 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Keep in mind, Sutton also dealt with some bad quarterback play. It was a lot of lazy Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen for a long stretch. Those numbers figure to go up next year with Drew Lock taking the reigns as the full-time starter next year.
Sutton was also doing this without another reliable target on the roster. Sutton was getting double-teamed often. Emmanuel Sanders got traded and it was the Courtland Sutton show. Teams couldn’t stop him. Sutton is explosive, wins with the ball in the air, and is a problem in the red area. Given his size, he’s got more than enough speed given his length.
The Broncos are going to be better than you think next year. Denver finished the season 4-1 with Drew Lock as the starting quarterback last year. Don’t be shocked if the Broncos make the playoffs. Heading into year 3, expect another leap coming from Courtland Sutton. He’s not done getting better and that’s scary.
