Tag: Returner

KJ Hamler will ‘catch a bunch of NFL punts’ in preseason

The Broncos plan to take a look at KJ Hamler as a returner this summer.

During his two seasons at Penn State, KJ Hamler totaled 1,258 return yards. Broncos special teams coordinator Tom McMahon believes Hamler’s return skills will transition to the NFL.

“I think what he’s done in college, his production, naturally it should carry over to the NFL,” McMahon said during a Zoom conference call on June 11. “He’s got great speed. He can create his own return. The one thing he’s going to have to do is he’s going to have catch a bunch of NFL punts here in the preseason.

“There is a much different punt that you see in college, but if we get that ball in his hands, we’re going to expect big things from him both in the punt return game and in the kick return game.”

That doesn’t mean Hamler will automatically become Denver’s new punt and kick returner. Diontae Spencer earned Pro Bowl alternate honors as a returner last season and if Hamler is as good of a receiver as the Broncos hope he is, Denver’s coaches might want him to focus on offense.

“There’s competition everywhere,” McMahon said. “‘Spence’ was a great returner for us last year. We’ve got other guys in the building and they can all run: Khalfani [Muhammad], Spence, KJ, Trinity [Benson] — they all run — Tyrie Cleveland. They can all run very very well. Kelvin McKnight has great juice. We’re excited to work with all those guys.”

Hamler isn’t guaranteed to win a return job but he will add more depth and explosiveness to the position. If he ends up receiving most of his snaps on offense, Hamler could still provide a spark at returner when needed, even if the team limits his return opportunities in 2020.

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‘The sky’s the limit’ for Broncos returner Diontae Spencer

The Broncos are excited about returner Diontae Spencer entering his second season in Denver.

After spending four years in the Canadian Football League, Diontae Spencer went to training camp with the Steelers last season but failed to make their 53-man roster. He was then picked up by the Broncos.

Spencer initially struggled to transition from the CFL to the NFL but it didn’t take long for him to become a dangerous returner in Denver.

“The one thing he did is he used to really study the punter and the kicker,” special teams coordinator Tom McMahon said during a Zoom conference call on June 11. “He knew where that ball was going to be kicked the last seven, eight games much better than he did the first six. That gives you a head start with your back underneath the ball. You have time now to just think about the catch and think about the return versus when he first started out, the NFL punt game is much different and so is the kickoff game. It was hard for him [initially] to get under those balls before the ball was ever punted.”

Spencer adjusted and learned to study and prepare himself for NFL kicks. After averaging 29.1 yards per kickoff return and totaling 208 yards on punt returns, Spencer earned Pro Bowl alternate honors as a returner last year. Entering his second season with the Broncos, Spencer is now even more familiar with the NFL game.

“Number one, I think he can win pre-snap now,” McMahon said. “Where he’s headed, to me the sky’s the limit. He can run. He’s got courage. He’s a rare small guy that can return kickoffs up the middle.

“We have a lot of schemes that we asked him last year to return up the middle and he hit it up the middle. I think the biggest thing that he’s got to do now, he’s just got to work on breaking those tackles. If he can break through and run through — he’s gotten stronger here in the offseason so we look forward to seeing what he can do.”

Spencer is still the favorite to return kicks for Denver this season even after the team added KJ Hamler in the second round of the draft. If Hamler is as good of a receiver as the Broncos hope he is, Spencer will be asked to handle most of the return duties so Hamler can focus on contributing on offense.

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Broncos returner Diontae Spencer signs 1-year tender

Broncos wide receiver/returner Diontae Spencer has signed his one-year tender.

Denver Broncos wide receiver/returner Diontae Spencer has signed his one-year tender, according to the player’s agency, DEC Management.

Because he only has one year of experience in the NFL, Spencer became an exclusive rights free agent when his contract expired. As an ERFA, Spencer was not allowed to negotiate with other teams.

After receiving a one-year, league-minimum offer from Denver, Spencer’s options were to sign it or sit out the season. Given that he had no leverage, signing the tender was just a formality for the returner.

The minimum salary for a second-year player is $675,000.

Spencer had a long road to the NFL that included four years in the Canadian Football League. He went to camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers last summer but failed to make their 53-man roster.

After being cut by the Steelers, Spencer was picked up by the Broncos and quickly claimed kickoff and punt return duties. After averaging 29.1 yards per kickoff return and eight yards per punt return, Spencer was named a Pro Bowl alternate following his first season in the NFL.

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Diontae Spencer shares inspiring path to Broncos on Twitter

Broncos returner Diontae Spencer didn’t have an easy road to the NFL.

Diontae Spencer didn’t have an easy road to the Denver Broncos.

He was a zero-star recruit coming out of high school before going on to play four years at McNeese State. After graduating, Spencer was not invited to the NFL combine and he went undrafted.

He then went to rookie minicamp with the Chicago Bears but did not receive a contract offer. Spencer then landed with the St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams but he didn’t even make it to training camp with them.

Spencer then landed in the Canadian Football League, playing two years with the Toronto Argonauts and two seasons with the Ottawa Redblacks. After four years in the CFL, Spencer signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers but failed to make their 53-man roster.

After being cut by the Steelers, Spencer landed in Denver. On Sunday, Spencer shared an inspiring tweet showing his path to the Broncos:

In Denver last season, Spencer averaged 29.1 yards per kickoff return and eight yards per punt return. After his first year as a full-time returner in the NFL, Spencer was named an alternate for the 2020 Pro Bowl.

From zero-star recruit to Pro Bowl alternate. Not bad, not bad at all!

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Cyrus Jones will be DB first, returner second for Broncos

The Broncos plan to take a look at cornerback/returner Cyrus Jones primarily as a defensive back.

The Denver Broncos picked up cornerback/returner Cyrus Jones off waivers last week, adding more depth on defense and on special teams.

Jones (5-10, 200 pounds) entered the league as a second-round pick out of Alabama with the Patriots in 2016. He failed to live up to his draft status as a cornerback and has bounced back and forth between New England’s roster and the Ravens’ roster over the last four years.

Jones has been used primarily as a returner in the NFL and he’s been plagued by fumbles, fumbling once on a kickoff and six times on punt returns. Denver may use him in nickel situations.

“He’s obviously a DB who has played some nickel in his past,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said on Nov. 14. “He’s primarily been a punt returner where he’s gotten most of his time. We’ll see.”

Diontae Spencer has been Denver’s returner this year and it sounds like his job in safe. Jones will likely serve as a rotational defensive back and as a backup returner.

“We liked him to some degree,” Fangio said of Jones. “We want to see what he is as a DB first and foremost and then that he can return punts is a bonus.”

Jones, 25, has recorded 31 tackles in his career and has totaled 655 return yards (on kickoffs and punts) and has scored one touchdown.

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Broncos make 2 roster moves

The Broncos claimed former Patriots and Ravens cornerback/returner Cyrus Jones off waivers.

The Denver Broncos have waived cornerback Coty Sensabaugh to make room for newly acquired defensive back/returner Cyrus Jones, ESPN’s Field Yates first reported Wednesday afternoon. The news has since been confirmed by multiple media outlets.

Denver announced the move on Wednesday evening.

Sensabaugh (5-11, 187 pounds) joined the team in October and dressed for the last four games, totaling two tackles. He is 30 years old.

Jones (5-10, 200 pounds) was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Alabama. He has spent time bouncing back and forth between the rosters of the Patriots and Baltimore Ravens since then, appearing mostly on special teams.

Jones has returned 12 punts for 113 yards this year, averaging 9.4 yards per return. Denver cutting a cornerback to make room for Jones likely means that Diontae Spencer‘s job is safe, at least for now. Spencer has averaged 8.2 yards per punt return this season and has caught five passes for 31 yards and rushed twice for 14 yards.

Jones, 25, is the second ex-Patriots cornerback the Broncos have acquired this season. Denver traded a sixth-round pick to New England in exchange for nickelback Duke Dawson in August.

Jones was waived by Baltimore earlier this week to make room for nose tackle Domata Peko, who played for the Broncos from 2017-2018.

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