Marvin Mims Jr.: New kickoffs are going to be ‘hidden gems’ for Broncos

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Marvin Mims Jr. was a significant reason why the Broncos had one of the league’s most-improved special-teams units last year. But as teams adjusted to what kind of threat the Pro Bowl selection offered, his opportunities ebbed — particularly after earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 10 at Buffalo.

But the new kickoff rules designed to increase the number of returns could change all that.

Last year, teams figured out how to punt away from Mims. Last year, the Broncos returned 42.9 percent of their punts in their first nine games. After that, the percentage plummeted to 30.6 percent — 12.5 percentage points below the league average of 43.1 percent,.

Special-teams players and coaches around the NFL are trying to figure out how to succeed with the new kickoff rules.

But Marvin Mims Jr. thinks the Broncos are going to turn the rule into something that becomes "one of our hidden gems." pic.twitter.com/oPsKWDn7of

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) July 25, 2024

If the Broncos coaches can figure out the kickoff rules faster than other teams, they have another opportunity to steal games at the margins.

“Just knowing our coaching staff, how they drew things up last year and what they’re starting to put in today, I think it’s going to be a real good play for us,” Mims said after Wednesday’s acclimation practice.

“I think that’s going to be one of our hidden gems this year: the kickoff rule.”

FIGURING OUT THE NEW KICKOFFS WILL BE TRICKY FOR MARVIN MIMS JR.

It is the most radical alteration to any kind of football play in a generation. And to say that kickoffs will be more like punts isn’t necessarily accurate, because there may not be a reward for properly-placed kicks that accumulate hang time.

Because coverage teams cannot move until after the ball is fielded, there likely will not be a great incentive to kickoffs that arc high before approaching the target area between the 20-yard line and the goal line. Pure squib kicks are out, too, because the ball would skip along the playing surface and bounce at least once — if not multiple times — before approaching the target area.

That leads to the possibility of low-trajectory, line-drive kickoffs.

“Those guys (returners) are going to have to be a little bit like infielders that have to react to knuckleballs,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said last month.

That creates another challenge — and for Mims, who muffed a punt in Week 5 and fumbled a kickoff in Week 16 — it increases the risk.

“For sure. I think a lot of teams are going to do low line drives and try to hit it on the 15,” Mims said. “Those are going to be hard to pick up because right when the ball hits the ground, the defense can come at us and kind of start stacking cuts off the bottom of the field.

“We’ll see what teams do. We’ll see how we’ll react to it. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to be figured out during the preseason for the kickoff rule.”

There is greater opportunity. But there is also greater risk. Either way, Mims plans to be ready.

“We’ll see what happens in the preseason,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun for us because we always try to have a head up on the other teams.”

Given the challenges facing the Broncos in myriad areas, they need an edge on special teams. Mims seems likely to provide it.