Today’s questions about the Broncos come from Philip Smith. Send your questions via e-mail to jlegwold@denverpost.com.
Q: What’s going on with wide receiver Eddie Royal? Why isn’t he being thrown any passes in preseason games? He suddenly appears to have a backup role — after catching 91 passes as a rookie in 2008, when Mike Shanahan was coaching the Broncos.
A: Royal believes it’s mostly a factor of moving to a new position. The former second-round draft pick from Virginia Tech played one of the Broncos’ outside receiver positions much of the time last season, what’s usually called the “X” receiver in the playbook. This year he has moved into the slot, the area between the outside receiver and the tight end or the offensive tackle.
That makes Royal the third receiver in the Broncos’ three-wideout formation, usually the base formation in coach Josh McDaniels’ offense. The Broncos, because of Ryan Clady’s knee injury, the youth in the offensive line and the injuries at running back, have spent a lot of time in a two-tight end formation, so pass-catching opportunities in a three-wideout formation have been limited.
Things also happen fast in the slot, because the receiver is working in a crowd in the middle of the field and there are bigger linebackers and safeties roaming there in addition to the cornerback who is across from him.
Royal said the slot receiver is open “only for a quick second,” so there is an adjustment period for receivers who are used to having more room to work on the outside.
Royal had 37 receptions in his sophomore season in the NFL. The Broncos, and Royal, will be disappointed if he doesn’t finish the 2010 season with far more catches. He struggled to make the adjustment to McDaniels’ offense after the coaching change, and last year’s passing game was all about short to intermediate strikes because of the lack of punch in the running game. Royal ran longer routes, and the ball didn’t come his way much of the time.
This year he hasn’t seen much action in the Broncos’ two preseason games, losses to the Bengals and Lions. I have him being targeted on three passes — maybe a fourth, but it was in traffic — and he has two catches, one of those for a touchdown against the Bengals.
Sunday’s game against the Steelers at Invesco Field at Mile High could be a good indication of Royal’s progress. It’s the Broncos’ third of four preseason games, so they will operate with what’s close to a regular-season game plan.
Royal’s first season — 91 catches, the second-highest total for a rookie in NFL history — created big expectations for him. But that 2008 season was a bit of an aberration offensively for the Broncos because they had so many injuries at running back. (They played without a running back during part of a game in Cleveland.) Jay Cutler threw more than 600 passes that year.
McDaniels has shown a desire to spread the ball more, especially since trading wide receiver Brandon Marshall (three 100-catch seasons) to the Dolphins. McDaniels has talked about a “lot of guys” being the No. 1 receiver, depending on the game.
It could be difficult for Royal to have another 91-catch season, but he will be more involved than he was last year.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
