Broncos Have 'Clear Vision' for New CB/KR Tremon Smith
Among the questions lobbed at Broncos head coach Sean Payton amid this week's NFL Owners Meetings pertained to free-agent addition Tremon Smith, a cornerback and kick-returner who inked a two-year, $5.5 million deal on March 15.
And, apparently, an integral part of what Denver wants to do.
“With Smith, I see a player that obviously competes outside of corner," Payton told reporters Monday. "I see an elite special teams player. Corner, special teams—I see 24 snaps. You have to look at it that way. The vision is pretty clear.”
Smith, 26, entered the NFL as a 2018 sixth-round pick of the Chiefs, with whom he scored PFWA All-Rookie honors, averaging 26.8 yards per kickoff return on 33 runbacks. He split the 2019 season in Green Bay and Philadelphia and the 2020 campaign in Philadelphia and Indianapolis before landing in Houston for the previous two years.
Cumulatively, Smith — who ran the forty in 4.32 seconds — has compiled 2,323 return yards and one touchdown, a 98-yard housecall against the Jaguars in 2021. He's logged 1,163 special-teams snaps compared to 462 defensive reps.
The former is expected to be his domain, competing with incumbent returner Montrell Washington (who averaged 18.9 YPR last season) under new Broncos ST bosses Mike Westhoff and Ben Kotwica, both of whom were handpicked by Payton to improve the oft-lacking third phase.
“I think it's awfully important," Payton said of special teams. "I think it's one way to improve your team pretty quickly. I don't think we were very good last year in the kicking game, quite honestly, for a number of reasons. I’ve got a guy like Ben Kotwica, and a guy like Mike Westhoff. Those are considerable resources that I think can help us. It would be silly to have those two along with [Assistant Special Teams Coach] Chris Banjo and then not have a punter or not have the correct holder or even a returner that we're still working on. It has to be an important point of emphasis. If you believe in hidden yardage and you understand yards equal points—each play you're fighting for those yards. That's an area that we felt like we needed to improve dramatically.”
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