He Gone - Lil J Humphrey Appreciation Thread

[Draft Crazy]

Well known, not my favorite Bronco.

He was a good blocker though.

Trent Shefield takes his spot, good blocker, great special teams player and probably even a better overall WR. More bang for our buck with Sherfield.

Handshake for his blocking and he did score a few times here. Won't miss the drops and fumbles.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Oh yeah...

Giants signed him.

 

[BHamita15]

There are not many Broncos who get under my skin but...he was one of them.

 

[cdumler7]

The unfortunate part for him is because the position was so bad last year the Broncos asked him to be more than he is. If he was say our 5th WR that came in on certain situations and helped on special teams we would all be ok with that. He was being asked to be our #2 WR for most of last year. This is why I keep harping that the WR room is not as good as people are trying to make it be. I get that Vele and Franklin can mature and take their game to another level but I think both of them have a maxed out level of a WR3.

 

[BHamita15]

The unfortunate part for him is because the position was so bad last year the Broncos asked him to be more than he is. If he was say our 5th WR that came in on certain situations and helped on special teams we would all be ok with that. He was being asked to be our #2 WR for most of last year. This is why I keep harping that the WR room is not as good as people are trying to make it be. I get that Vele and Franklin can mature and take their game to another level but I think both of them have a maxed out level of a WR3.

I am not ok with Lil'J at any spot of the depth chart. LOL. He would probably still be on the team if he played special teams.

 

[cdumler7]

I am not ok with Lil'J at any spot of the depth chart. LOL. He would probably still be on the team if he played special teams.

I'm good with him being gone. And agree in order to stick around he needed to offer more on special teams. He took the 2nd most snaps by a WR only behind Sutton though for this team last year. To me that is the biggest indicator of where this team is at WR wise than anything else. I get that Vele and Franklin were rookies and need time, but we have a small window with Nix on a rookie contract. If a WR falls I would not pass on them just because Payton has said they like their receivers.

 

[BHamita15]

I'm good with him being gone. And agree in order to stick around he needed to offer more on special teams. He took the 2nd most snaps by a WR only behind Sutton though for this team last year. To me that is the biggest indicator of where this team is at WR wise than anything else. I get that Vele and Franklin were rookies and need time, but we have a small window with Nix on a rookie contract. If a WR falls I would not pass on them just because Payton has said they like their receivers.

I'm hoping Vele takes the Lil J's reps but they brought in Sherfield for a reason.

Wide receiver is weird on this team right now...we could have our entire rotation mostly set...or we could still be searching for answers.

 

[cdumler7]

I'm hoping Vele takes the Lil J's reps but they brought in Sherfield for a reason.

Wide receiver is weird on this team right now...we could have our entire rotation mostly set...or we could still be searching for answers.

Other than RB it is the only other position we really have no clue what we have. The rest of the roster we at least have a decent idea. It is why I would like to hedge our bets a bit and either add a vet like Cooper or use an earlier pick on the position.

 

[CEH]

i believe the coaches know exactly what they have in the WR room. i count engram as a WR or the move TE. yes the draft will tell us a lot about the WR room.

 

[Draft Crazy]

One thing I was really happy to hear from Payton after the season was how happy he was with the growth of Mims and Franklin.

Both are playmakers and can provide an X factor to this WR core that we haven't had with other rosters in Denver. Sure, neither is gonna catch 100 passes but both play their roles very well if given the opportunity to grow.

I give Payton mad respect for admitting he didn't use Mims well until late in the season. One of the few things that bothered me with Payton (and there isn't many) was the way he used Mims. I think Mims has earned his respect now.

He talked about how well Franklin gets separation and how the staff was very pleased with his growth going forward. How excited they are about him growing from year 1 to 2.

There were times when Franklin played like a rookie but you could see his growth from the start of PS to the end of the year.

Then you have Vele who is a way different WR then Franklin and Mims.

Just gotta get that other guy next to Sutton so that everyone compliments everyone well. If all shapes up the way it can we don't need to have a 100 yard catch, Jamar Chase WR to be productive at the WR core. Everyone plays their role and does their thing. Get a core of WR's that add up to the do it all WR. I think we will be fine at WR going forward. Add someone who does the things different then Franklin/Mims, sorta cross that with Sutton and we will be fine.

I don't really care who if we have a 100 catch, pro bowl WR as long as the core together is working as a team to continue to allow Nix to reach his full potential. As long as the group together is dangerous then we got good things coming. We need to add one more dynamic WR who can help those around him do what they do best. We have a good group of developing WR's around here and you could see that towards the end of the season. Lil J may have been second in WR snaps but he was the least productive WR on the roster last year and if you paid attention you noticed we relied less on him to block and more on the other WR's to make plays towards the end. That my friends, is called developing. Great sign, exactly what the staff wanted to see happen at the end of the season. They didn't want to throw Lil J out there just because he had the experience and was a dependable blocker. The fact that we had no intentions to re-sign him is a great sign. The WR core got better and started to develop now we just need to add one more to the core.

The development of our young WR's late in the season allowed us to go out and sign a guy like Trent Sherfield who serves a much better purpose, we don't have to depend on him early on like we did Humphrey the last two years yet he is a far better special teams player and he serves the same role Lil J does as a WR, the difference is now we don't have to throw that WR out there as much as we have the last two years.

 

[LGM]

I'm good with our WR room and to be frank, if we draft a wr or two late then fine by me. Its not like the Patyons haven't been money in the draft lately. Including trading a last minute pick or two for a player.

 

[Draft Crazy]

I want Restrepo carving up the seams in Denver.