Broncos WR Courtland Sutton on the Brink of Big Career Milestone

It would be amazing to see the Denver Broncos' WR1 notch this achievement.

Nov 24, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) celebrates after scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For the first half of the regular season, the Denver Broncos fielded a low-volume passing offense. But as rookie quarterback Bo Nix steadily progressed and grew within Sean Payton's scheme, the bonds with his skill-position players began solidifying and the passing game opened up.

That was especially true for veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who has been a massive boon to Nix's accelerated development. Sutton's season got off to a lackluster start, with a high of 68 yards in the first seven games coming in Week 3 on the road in Tampa.

However, since Week 8, Sutton has totaled 569 receiving yards, the third-most in the AFC, along with 42 receptions. The Nix-Sutton connection has paid dividends for the Broncos, and now the team's No. 1 receiver is just 154 yards away from the second 1,000-yard campaign of his career.

On the season, Sutton has 63 receptions on 104 targets for 846 yards and five touchdowns. He's easily Nix's favorite target and has become the rookie's security blanket since the end of October.

Sutton's surge of late has been a remarkable one, especially considering that he went all of Week 7 in New Orleans without an official target. Nix did look his way once, but the play was called back due to an offensive line penalty, so no stat for Sutton.

With the tear Sutton has been on since Week 8, he climbed the Broncos record books, becoming the third-fastest player in team history to reach 5,000 career receiving yards. He did it in 93 games.

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As the team's second-round pick in 2018, Sutton is in his seventh NFL season. He was a Pro Bowler in 2019, his second year.

The following season, Sutton tore his ACL and missed most of the 2020 campaign. It took him a couple of seasons to get his feet back beneath him while he dutifully played through the 2021 and 2022 seasons amid quarterback attrition.

Last year, Sutton struggled to put up big yardage with Russell Wilson at quarterback, but he was a touchdown machine, setting a career-high with 10. When the Broncos jettisoned Wilson, it would have been easy for Sutton to get frustrated with the 'here we go again' mentality of being stuck on the team's quarterback carousel.

Sutton skipped the Broncos' 2024 offseason program, but he did so under the team's advice of seeking medical rehab in Florida. Right before the team's mandatory mini-camp, the Broncos gave Sutton a contract increase, rewarding him for his double-digit touchdown campaign, and he showed up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

But the veteran receiver had some making up to do time-wise after missing all those reps with Nix, whom the Broncos drafted No. 12 overall in April. It didn't take long for Sutton to get on the same page with Nix and recognize that his career-long quarterback woes could be over.

Nix and Sutton now have a very special relationship the Broncos will benefit from down the stretch and through 2025. Sutton is under contract for one more season, and then Payton and company will have to decide whether to offer him a third deal. Sutton will be 30 years old when his contract expires, which is no coincidence.

With four games left to go in the 2024 season, the Broncos sit at 8-5 and with a two-game lead for the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs. Coming out of the bye, it'll be interesting to see whether Nix and Sutton can sustain the momentum they've built up like a head of steam since Week 8.

To cross the 1,000-yard threshold this season, Sutton will need to average 38.5 yards per game. I like his chances. He's on pace for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns.

Expect Sutton to break that barrier for the second time in his career and for the Broncos to snap their eight-year playoff drought finally.

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