The Broncos’ special-teams periods during offseason work sounded different.
That wasn’t so much because of a different voice leading the drills. This offseason, Darren Rizzi became the latest member of the New Orleans Saints diaspora to take up residence along the Front Range.
Rizzi, most recently the Saints’ interim head coach, replaced Ben Kotwica as special teams coordinator and Mike Westhoff as assistant head coach. With him will come some tweaks, with some already manifesting in personnel moves, with free-agency departures of special-teams mainstays such as gunner Tremon Smith and punter Riley Dixon.
But it’s with the latter where the sound comes in.
Because his replacement, Broncos sixth-round pick Jeremy Crawshaw, was someone that you heard before you saw.
During Senior Bowl practices nearly six months ago, Crawshaw was one of two punters on hand for the week’s proceedings; Alabama’s James Burnip, now with the Saints, was the other.
Burnip, like Crawshaw, is one of many punting products to emerge from the robust ProKick Australia program, which has become a feeder to the college-football ranks, perpetuating the Australia-to-NFL punting pipeline. Five of the 40 punters in the NFL last year were born in Australia.
But Burnip’s punts didn’t sound like Crawshaw’s. The difference in sound led to a difference in distance and hang time — which mirrored Crawshaw emerging as not only one of the punting leaders in college football last year, but one of the best in hang time, a skill in which he improved during his years at the University of Florida.
Distance, placement, ability to minimize returns — Crawshaw appears to have all the clubs in his bag, including the field-flipping driver that the Broncos have rarely possessed.
In Rizzi’s eyes, Crawshaw’s ceiling is lofty.
“Oh, gosh, listen, Jeremy’s situation is never going to come back to talent,” Rizzi said. “He is as talented as a punting prospect that I’ve ever had. Obviously one of the reasons we drafted him, I felt very, very confident in that.
“He’s off to a good start. You know, the thing with specialists, punter, kicker, snapper, returner, is consistency and having the ability to go out there and do it time and time again. But there’s no doubt that talent-wise, he’s certainly there.”
Consistency, indeed, is the thing. During one punt period of Broncos offseason work, Crawshaw uncorked a series of blasts that lingered in the air in the neighborhood of 5.0 seconds each time. But his first punt of that period was a shank.
In a game, of course, you get one shot with no warmup, so had that been a game situation, and his only punt had been the first one, it wouldn’t have been the result you wanted.
That’s where consistency matters. Working on that will define Crawshaw’s rookie season. But the Broncos felt strong enough with him to jettison veteran Matt Haack when rookie minicamp began; Crawshaw will get all of the work — which includes handling holding duties with returning kicker Wil Lutz.
“I really like his level-headedness. I really like his maturity. I really like his approach,” Rizzi said. “And getting to know him in the process was a big part of us drafting him.”
But while Crawshaw’s blasts will likely grab the eyes — and the ears — it could be Rizzi who ends up being the most impactful newcomer in this phase for the Broncos.
THE REASON WHY RIZZI CAN BE THE BRONCOS’ SECRET WEAPON
The “dynamic kickoff” instituted last year by the NFL was anything but. Yes, it dropped the touchback percentage from 2023 — but only from 73.0 to 64.3 percent, which meant the 2024 season still saw the highest touchback percentage since at least 1991, when detailed data on kickoffs began being kept.
So, the league went back to try again. Rizzi was a part of crafting the changed rules that not only further de-incentive touchbacks on the fly — moving the drive-start position to the 35-yard line from the 30 last year — but altering the alignment of players.
Rizzi’s involvement and understanding of the tweaks should give the Broncos an edge.
“I don’t know if this kickoff-return rule is getting as much publicity as it should. I think it’s really going to change the game for the entire league this year,” he said. “We’re going to see a dramatic increase in returns.”
That should lead to more opportunities for Marvin Mims Jr., who had a touchdown on a kickoff return as a rookie but saw his kickoff-return chances drop from 15 in 2023 to seven last year.
But it will also create chances for the other returner who aligns deep with Mims.
“I think the guy that’s back there with him is going to get a lot of opportunities because I’m sure they’re going to try to play keep away from him as well,” Rizzi said.
“It may sound really fundamental, but fielding the ball is going to be critical, because I think a lot of teams are going to try to do keep-away, maybe hit some line-drive kicks,” Rizzi said. “So, getting the play started is going to be really, really important.
“That player is obviously going to be a really good player with the ball in his hand,” Rizzi said. “And that could come in a variety of ways, a lot of shapes and sizes. of shapes and sizes. It could be a downhill guy. Could be a make-you-miss guy. make you miss guy. Marvin obviously is one type of dynamic. There could be a bigger guy, some of those running backs.”
For now, Rizzi said there’s a “stable” of players in the mix. But with backup running back in the spotlight as the competition intensifies for time with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey likely to be the 1-2 punch atop the RB depth chart, finding a role on returns could be the difference between sticking and being on the waiver wire.
If fielding the ball is crucial, as Rizzi noted, that could favor a player like Jaleel McLaughlin, who has a low fumble rate during his career and also possesses straight-line speed.
But others will get chances. And just as special-teams work will likely end up making a difference in determining backup roles at cornerback and safety, it’s likely to impact running back, too.
Young players such as Kris Abrams-Draine and Que Robinson will be names to watch as they emerge into potentially significant roles in this phase.
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