How the Denver Broncos Can Get Julius Thomas More Involved on Offense
The Denver Broncos have the league’s most dangerous passing game. Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, the Broncos can put up a ton of points through the air.
With Manning leading the way, the Broncos can distribute the ball to many different high-quality targets. They feature multiple All-Pro level skill position players who can make big plays from accurate passes from Manning.
One of their best weapons on offense is tight end Julius Thomas.
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Originally a college basketball star at Portland State, the Broncos saw enough in one year of college football film (and a standout performance at the 2011 East-West Shrine Game) to select Thomas in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft.
After two years with almost zero production due to an ankle injury, Thomas exploded onto the NFL scene in 2013. He finished his breakout season with 65 catches, 788 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.
Going into this season, many expected Thomas to continue producing at a high level—and he certainly didn’t disappoint in the first five games of the year. However, over the last two games Thomas’ numbers have fallen off.
So what happened after his hot start?
How can the Broncos get Julius Thomas more involved on offense? Let’s take a look.
Weeks 1-6
Julius Thomas got off to arguably the hottest start in football. In the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Thomas caught seven passes for 104 yards and a whopping three touchdowns.
After the New York Jets game, Thomas sat atop an NFL record for touchdowns caught by a tight end over the first five games of a season.
| Player | Year | TDs |
| Julius Thomas (Broncos) | 2014 | 9 |
| Antonio Gates (Chargers) | 2010 | 7 |
| Mike Ditka (Bears) | 1963 | 7 |
| Julius Thomas (Broncos) | 2013 | 6 |
| Jimmy Graham (Saints) | 2010 | 6 |
Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase knows that Thomas is tough for defensive coordinators to scheme against.
“We move him around enough where it’s really tough to match up as far as do they take one linebacker out there? Do they take a safety and a linebacker out there? Or is it a corner? So that’s what makes it tough as far as who are you going to single up with the other guys?” Gase concluded, “And that’s the hardest matchup for a defensive coach to do is who am I singling? Who am I going to double?”
Week 7
Before the game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 7, Thomas commented on whether or not defenses would start scheming specifically to stop him because of his hot start.
“It’s an interesting question. It’s something we do our best to prepare for. You never know what another team’s plan is going to be. It’s difficult to really do a lot of things with the playmakers that we have and that trot out on the field alongside me. I don’t know what teams will do.” Thomas emphasized, “I’m sure teams will start doing something a little bit different and we’ll have to react accordingly.”
The 49ers were the first team to really start bracketing Thomas with two defenders on a regular basis. The result was a four-catch, 27-yard performance. Thomas rarely saw open space to haul in passes.
In this play, we see Thomas run what is essentially a jerk route to the outside of the field. The deep safety stays with Demaryius Thomas on the outside, so Julius Thomas sees some room to run. This pass falls to the ground incomplete, and the Broncos lose out on a big opportunity to make a play.
Week 8
The Broncos played on a short week with a game against the San Diego Chargers on Thursday Night Football. Like the 49ers, the Chargers were bracketing Thomas on multiple snaps.
In this picture, we see Thomas lined up to the right side of the formation standing up. From the pre-snap read, it looks like the safety in the middle of the field is likely to pick up Thomas if he goes to the middle of the field.
Instead, the Chargers drop two defensive linemen to where Thomas is running his route. Manning sees a gap and tries to fit it in to Thomas, but the pass falls incomplete.
This next play shows Thomas running a route to the sideline on a 1st-and-10 situation. Thomas ends up dropping the pass, but he wouldn’t have gone far anyway. The Chargers once again task two players (one linebacker, one safety) to covering Thomas.
The final play to highlight from the Chargers game shows coverage where Thomas actually is single-covered by a linebacker.
The pre-snap read shows safety help over the top on Thomas’ side. As the ball is snapped, we see the corner blitz and leave Wes Welker uncovered. The safety is sprinting to the outside to cover Welker on a sideline route. Emmanuel Sanders is single-covered on the outside, but he runs a deep route.
Thomas runs into the middle of the field, sits down and turns back to Manning. After squaring up to the line of scrimmage, Thomas moves to the spot vacated by the blitzing cornerback. Again, the pass falls incomplete and Thomas seemed a bit slow getting to the spot.
Going Forward
In order to effectively use Thomas, the Broncos need to find more ways to get him in one-on-one situations. With teams rolling safety help over the top in the direction of Thomas, it’s opening up things for other receivers on the team. Now that those receivers are exploding with big games, the coverage might roll away from Thomas.
The drops need to stop.
Thomas needs to know that his targets, receptions, yardage and touchdowns will come back. There’s no need to press things and try to do too much. Defenses have been trying to take Thomas away from the Broncos arsenal, but there are too many weapons to slow down the offense.
| Routes | Targets | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Drops |
| 144 | 29 | 24 | 277 | 9 | 0 |
| Routes | Targets | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Drops |
| 46 | 10 | 6 | 50 | 0 | 1 |
Julius Thomas is one of the best tight ends in the game today. He’s already set records with the Broncos this season, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets back on track. Defenses may keep trying to scheme against Thomas, but eventually they will break.
Manning and Thomas will be ready to strike when the opportunity is there.
All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via email from the Denver Broncos, unless otherwise noted. Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac.com. Transaction history provided by ProSportsTransactions.com.
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