Broncos WR Courtland Sutton explains the leadership posture he's trying to take in year two

Courtland Sutton has talked about taking on a bigger leadership role in year two. Now we know what he meant.

Last week, Courtland Sutton was involved in some big headlines and not for the right reasons. Yes, the Denver Broncos played a preseason game vs. the Seattle Seahawks. 

But that's not why Sutton's name was in the news. 

The second-year wideout set the blogosphere ablaze when a fistfight between he and fellow receiver Emmanuel Sanders during a camp practice was captured on video and went viral. Sutton and Sanders have since buried the hatchet publicly, but one of the few facts we absolutely know about what sparked the fight is that Sanders could be heard saying, "You haven't proved s**t in this league!"

The implication was, Sutton had done or said something that his experience or production in the NFL hadn't justified. What that was, we don't exactly know. 

What we do know is that Sutton has been vocal, since the Broncos returned to football activities this past April, about his goal of being a leader and taking on more of a leadership role in 2019. With the din of the Sutton/Sanders fight having died down, we now have better context about what the Broncos' 2018 second-round pick meant by his "leadership" comments. 

“We kind of say a few more things and some guys actually hear us out," Sutton said following Tuesday's practice. "It’s not even so much going in and just being like, ‘Hey this is what we need to do.’ It’s more like, ‘Hey, this is kind of what we see, we kind of think that this is the way that we should kind of go.’ And also just lead by example and showing up and going to work every day. That speaks louder than any words you can say."

Some second-year players are going to naturally have more clout in the locker room — more cache. And it's not just based on draft pedigree. 

It's more about what that individual player has proven through his works and production that likely carries the most weight in the locker room, when said player chooses to assert himself as a leader in any given situation. 

Phillip Lindsay, for example, is likely to earn more respect and actually have other veterans stop and listen when he chooses to take a leader's posture, because of the fact that he sowed his oats as a pro last year. As an undrafted rookie, Lindsay fought and clawed his way onto the Broncos' 53-man roster and earned every rep he got. 

By the time his rookie campaign was over, Lindsay had established himself as a starter, totaling more than 1,000 rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns. It earned him an unprecedented Pro Bowl nod. 

Now, if a young player is perceived as having not produced yet in the NFL, or established himself through his works, and tries to assert himself as a leader in some way, the locker room is more likely to either tune him out, or even tell that player to sit down and shut up. 

I'm not saying that's what necessarily happened between Courtland Sutton and Emmanuel Sanders last week. But after hearing Sutton stand up back in April and proclaim himself the Broncos' No. 1 receiver and call himself a leader, I could understand why at least half of that equation would rub Sanders, and perhaps other vets, the wrong way. 

It's not as if Sutton failed to produce last year. He definitely did, hauling in 42 receptions for 702 yards and four touchdowns. It was the fourth-best rookie campaign for a wideout in Broncos' history. 

But he became a starter kind of by default, after the Broncos traded away Demaryius Thomas ahead of Week 9. And it took Sanders going down with his Achilles tear ahead of Week 14 in order for Sutton to leapfrog all the way up the depth chart to de facto No. 1 status. 

Unfortunately, as encouraging as the first three quarters of Sutton's rookie season was, he faded into the background down the stretch as the top receiver on the Broncos' depth chart. In two of the team's final four contests, Sutton caught two or less passes. He wasn't a factor, plain and simply. 

The Broncos' offense quite obviously suffered without Sanders in the lineup. And Sutton simply wasn't on a level that could compensate for the loss. Yet. 

However, Sutton seems to increasingly understand that the NFL is a production-based business and if and until a player produces out on the grid-iron, his clout in the locker room is going to be limited. 

"If you go to work consistently every day and you put days on top of days on top of days then guys are like, ‘Alright, this guy goes to work every day, we know what we’re going to get from him every day, he’s consistent, he shows up and he goes to work.’ I think that speaks louder than words and that’s one way I know I’ve been able to go out and work and I know I can say the same thing about Phillip [Lindsay], [OLB] Bradley [Chubb] and the rest of the guys in our class as well," Sutton said. "A lot of guys on this team they just go to work consistently. You might not hear much from them, but you ask guys on the team, ‘Hey, what do you think about such and such? He shows up, he goes to work and he’s consistent’.”

For now, Sutton's best course of action would be to keep his head down, go to work and let his production do all the talking for him. For what it's worth, I see Sutton as being poised to have a big year. 

So long as he stays out of his own way, sky's the limit. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.