Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton ready to unleash beast within

The receiver that Courtland Sutton used to be? Gone forever. But that can’t stop him from being bigger and better than ever.

We’ve been waiting nearly three years for Sutton to return to form and fulfill the tantalizing potential exhibited before he went down with a devastating knee injury inside a nearly empty stadium in Pittsburgh.

OK, enough is enough. That old version of Sutton isn’t coming back.

“Past couple years … there really hasn’t been any drastic change in my play. And I wanted to see something different,” Sutton said Wednesday. “So I couldn’t continue to do the same thing and hope something was going to change.”

OK, here’s where the story of Sutton’s journey back from injury finally gets interesting.

After two seasons of frustration, searching for the receiver he used to be, Sutton took the bold move of re-inventing himself.

He’s ready to unleash the new-found beast within on NFL cornerbacks.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same results,” Sutton said.

The player we now see making noise early in training camp doesn’t lack for burst off the line of scrimmage. Adopting changes in his workout program, Sutton dedicated the offseason to adding new-found muscle in his upper body, while cutting a little weight at the same time.

While never a small target, the reshaping of his 6-foot-4 frame has recast Sutton as even more of a beast for cornerbacks to tangle with, as teammate Pat Surtain II can attest after their one-on-one battles on the field this summer.

A year ago, the Broncos were a brotherhood of the miserable. And although Sutton is a tall guy, he grabbed a front-row seat for the team photo.

Misery is best served cold, so do we really need to reheat it? Entering last season, with Russell Wilson as his quarterback, Sutton declared the sky knew no limits for the Broncos and revealed his goal was to not only land an invitation to the Pro Bowl, but be named All-Pro for the first time in his career.

To say none of those lofty dreams turned into reality would be sugar-coating the misery of a 5-12 season in which Sutton produced a respectable (if far from All-Pro) 64 receptions, but his 13.0 yards per catch proved to be the worst of his five-year career.

The sad song remained the same: Sutton wasn’t the same receiver after ripping up his knee early in the COVID-plagued season of 2020. The four-year, $60.8 million contract extension the Broncos gave him after a career-altering ACL injury seemed like a bad deal, another example of a hefty investment by general manager George Paton that failed to pay off.

As the dark cloud of trade rumors threw shade at Sutton, he took to social media in March to let us know: “I just want to be where I’m wanted and appreciated.”

Even prior to his injury, I would argue Sutton revealed himself to be something less than an elite NFL receiver, the No. 2 passing target in a championship-caliber offense.

It’s only now, in his sixth pro season, that Sutton finally has a coach who realizes how best to utilize him. He doesn’t have to be All-Pro to be dangerous.

One reason to believe the Broncos could be good for a touchdown more per game than the pathetically weak 16.9 points they averaged in 2022 is Sean Payton will draw up plays that allow Sutton to leverage his size and new-found strength, while deploying Jerry Jeudy as the team’s No. 1 receiver.

Sutton isn’t the receiver he used to be. Rather than be haunted by his past, he has evolved.