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The day before the Denver Broncos’ Week 12 game with the New Orleans Saints, three-quarters of the roster were ruled ineligible after being seen as high-risk close contact with placed quarterback Jeff Driskel. in reserve / COVID list due to positive test.
The Broncos are now scrambling and practice team WR Kendall Hinton could be the answer. If you don’t remember seeing Hinton backing up to throw a pass – at any level – don’t worry. This is probably because you are not a die-hard ACC football fan. The former Wake Forest player was a wide receiver in 2019, but has played quarterback the previous four seasons.
So who is Hinton and what will he bring to this job? During his college career at Wake Forest, Hinton appeared in 22 games over four seasons. Hinton took most of his college quarterback reps in his first season in 2015. He completed 93 of 177 attempts for 929 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. On the surface, these numbers are good for a freshman, but things have gotten risky. Hinton’s 52.5 percent completion rate and 5.2 yards per attempt average were serious red flags.
Hinton would end up wearing a red shirt in his sophomore season. He then attempted 74 more passes during his college career at Wake (40 of 74 with four touchdowns and two interceptions). If he’s called up to the Broncos’ active roster for Sunday’s game, and if he takes shots at the quarterback (or wide receiver, or wild quarterback), Hinton will record the first stats of his NFL career. .
In his final season at Wake Forest, Hinton started turning heads only after his transition to wide receiver, where he finished with 73 receptions for 1,001 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged over 13.7 yards per reception and functioned as a threat after the catch in the open field.
Hinton was also a star quarterback in the high school ranks. CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson has more on the Hinton Course:
Hinton’s college career has been defined by resilience. A star quarterback at Southern Durham High School, Hinton’s arrival was greeted with enthusiasm by those who participated in the Demon Deacons program. Hinton led his team to the State Championship as a junior and was 13-1 as a senior, and when he got the chance to start against Indiana as a rookie in 2015, he set the school record for most passing yards in a first. carrier start. All that momentum stalled when he injured his knee in early 2016 and John Wolford took over as starting quarterback. Hinton adjusted, made the transition to wide receiver during the 2018 season, and ended his college career as one of the top wide receivers on one of the ACC’s top three offensives. He’s been able to make those kinds of adjustments on the fly before and find ways to be successful, so he’s a good fit to try and do it again for the Broncos.
The addition of Hinton could allow for some interesting wrinkles from Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. While it’s obvious that the game plan will need to be simplified, Hinton’s ability to create distance in open space with his legs may allow Shurmur to dive into an area of his offensive system that he didn’t feel he could. – be uncomfortable with the Drew Lock starter. Shurmur can also use – and we expect him to build on – the Zone Play option racing game with Hinton and a combination of Melvin Gordon and Philip Lindsay.
While they have some similarities, the zone reading option execution game is different from the savage offense that became popular in the NFL a few years ago. The zone read offense also works well in unison with the internal zone blocking scheme that Shurmur often relies on in the running game, so it could be a solid match from a schematic standpoint.
When a hybrid receiver makes its way to the quarterback position, it makes sense to expect a few game turns of offense, but it would be surprising for Denver to appeal this week. Tower plays require repetition in practice and Hinton hasn’t had any of that with his Broncos teammates – at least not from quarterback.
On the other hand, it would be great to see Shurmur give Hinton the opportunity to run RPO (run pass option) games from the QB position. A great way to maximize Hinton’s athleticism and tools would be to run a mix of RPO, games of zone play options, and bootlegs designed to get Hinton out into space with an option to run or pass. .
Also, don’t be surprised if the Broncos give their emergency quarterback a few shots – reserve running back Royce Freeman. Freeman’s last pass attempt was a 26-yard completion for Raiders reserve quarterback Marcus Mariota in 2014, while the two were still in Oregon.
It will be a wacky and wild game on Sunday between the Broncos and the Saints and we can’t wait to see what kind of wrinkles Denver plays out on the offensive end of the ball.
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