When the Denver Broncos traded wide receiver Brandon Marshall, they were trading away their unquestioned No. 1 receiver, who had almost one-third of their catches and one-third of their receiving yards from 2009.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels says he’s not expecting one receiver to step up in Marshall’s place in 2010. Instead, he’s hoping to have a lot of receivers step up in Marshall’s place.
“I hope we have a lot of guys that become our No. 1 receiver at different times during the year -- a tight end that catches 10 balls, two or three different receivers that can catch that many balls in a week over the course of the season,” McDaniels told the Denver Post. “We’re not looking for it to be predictable or throw it to only one or two players. We’d like to attack the defense with a number of skilled players, and ultimately that’s what we’ll be when we get everybody out there and have time to practice together.”
That sounds good, but the flip side is that the reason McDaniels needs multiple receivers to take the place of Marshall is that he doesn’t have any one receiver who’s as talented as Marshall. The Broncos may be glad to have rid themselves of Marshall’s off-field distractions, but a committee approach can’t replace the contributions that Marshall made on Sundays.