Denver Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton is studying Michael Thomas' legendary 2019 season with the New Orleans Saints.
Due to a long list of injuries, Thomas has played in just 10 games over the past three seasons, but he was once one of football's best receivers and route runners. In that 2019 campaign, Thomas set an NFL record with 149 receptions and led the league with 1725 yards on his way to Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Former Saints head coach Sean Payton will call the shots for Denver's offense next season, and the Broncos recently sent Sutton tapes of all 185 Michael Thomas targets in 2019. This isn't surprising; it makes sense for Sutton to learn from one of Payton's best success stories.
“I'm just diving into [the tapes] to be able to see how he may have run a route that we are learning right now. Figuring out ways to get open,” Sutton told Broncos reporters, per Pro Football Talk.
“Obviously he had a really good year that year, so to be able to find ways to implement the things he did well into my game, I feel like we’ll be able to have a lot of success.”
At 6'4, 219 lbs, Courtland Sutton is slightly bigger than Thomas and is very physically imposing. Typically, receivers of that build make great deep ball threats, but Thomas was special because of how elite he was in the short to intermediate passing game. Adding elements of Thomas' game is a great place to turn for a player like Sutton.
Sutton himself is a one-time Pro Bowler in his lone 1000-yard season—also back in 2019—but he certainly has the tools to be a perennial All-Pro contender.
Now, his situation finally puts him in a position to accomplish that goal. Denver's quarterback situation was a nightmare for the first four years of Sutton's career. Russell Wilson brought high expectations for the Broncos' offense when he arrived last summer, but the Nathaniel Hackett head-coaching experiment was also a disaster.
With a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback (maybe), as well as a quality receiving room around him, Sutton is poised to have a breakout year.
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