Sean Payton on Denver Broncos WR Marvin Mims Jr: ‘I’m mad at myself’

The Denver Broncos The offense was significantly better in the final quarter of the season. In case you missed it.

Bo Nix’s rise is making headlines for good reason, as he has been named Rookie of the Week three weeks in a row. His play explains a lot of the Broncos’ offensive improvements, but it’s not the whole story.

One of the new items on Sean Payton’s “menu” was second-year quarterback Marvin Mims Jr. Ironically, Mims’ unique impact in recent weeks has come not as a wideout, but as a running back. Payton has used Mims in the backfield to great effect, keeping defenses guessing and giving the Broncos a huge boost in momentum.

“I think as a coach, I’m mad at myself that we didn’t deal with this sooner,” Payton said of Mims’ new assignment. “He does such a good job running, when you watch him return punts, that vision can carry over to certain runs in your offense and then to certain things in the passing game.”

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Last week, Mims had three receptions for 44 yards, including 37 yards receiving. He revealed it that he can see confusion in the defense’s eyes.

“It’s a lot of fun to just give the defense a different look. “You can tell sometimes they don’t know what to do when I’m back at the running back position,” Mims said in November.

Opponents don’t know what to make of Mims lining up in the backfield, and the Broncos have taken advantage of that confusion. We learned this week that a big part of the deception will be in the personnel lineup when Mims is back.

“I think the challenge sometimes is we have to know: What do we expect when we put him in there? It’s not him who’s in there. “It’s about who he’s in there with,” Payton said. “If he’s in there with three other receivers and a tight end, you could say it’s ’01 (because) there are no running backs there. “If he’s in there with a fullback… So we do that “We put a lot of thought into what we thought we could reasonably get based on the other people that were in there with him.”

This expansion paid off for the Broncos. Mims went from an afterthought to one of Payton’s offensive focal points.

“That third down-and-8 where he kind of leaked out of the backfield, they dropped coverage, it was hard for them to find… It’s hard to figure out which way he’s going,” Payton said of Mims. “It allowed us to expand some packages with him.”

Mims was drafted in the second round in 2023 and earned second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors as a rookie kick and punt returner. Speed, vision, explosiveness – it’s all there. And yet, until recently, Mims hadn’t even considered the offense as a receiver.

Because of this, Payton is upset that he didn’t experience the Mims enlightenment sooner. But you know what they say: better late than never.

Now it’s unclear why Mims had trouble finding a way into production as an outside receiver. It could have something to do with the personnel and Payton’s preference for big receivers, even in the slot.

Mims has totaled 16 receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown this season, including 36 rushing yards. He moved the chains on eight of his ball touches. Of course, these numbers are far from eye-opening on their own, but when you consider that the majority of this production came in the last three weeks, you get a whole new light.

The Broncos are on to something. Payton had his lightbulb moment, and he arrived just in time for the Broncos’ stretch run.

The Broncos will host next Cleveland Browns To Monday Night Football. We’ll see what other Mims tricks Payton has up his sleeve.

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