3 Takeaways from STC Dwayne Stukes' First Broncos Camp Presser

After Saturday's practice, the Denver Broncos coaching staff took to the podium. While there has been a lot of attention given to the remarks of offensive coordinator Justin Outten and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes made some interesting comments that are worth digging into.

Punter Competition

Stukes was asked about having Sam Martin and Corliss Waitman competing during camp and the benefits of having a left-footed punter in Waitman.

"Just the spin," Stukes said. "The ball is going to spin differently, and it’s going to cause problems for the returner to handle it. Obviously, guys are starting to become better at [fielding] left-footed punters because guys are bringing left-footed punters into camp and they’re putting the JUGs machine on left-footed punters and things of that sort. They’re getting the practice of it, but it’s still difficult coming off of a live foot.”

There can be an advantage with a left-footed punter and one that some coaches, Bill Belichick comes to mind, have used. However, having that different spin when fielding punts can lead to muffed punts, which is where the potential advantage comes.

"If we have two punters, obviously there is competition involved," Stukes said. "For me personally, I always thought that we should have six specialists in camp, so everybody is competing and nobody says, ‘I have a job, and I’ve made it.’ When you put pressure on guys, that’s when you get the best out of guys and that’s what we’re looking for. And I’ll say this again, we’re trying to build a standard and a culture around here and the specialists are a part of that standard and culture.”

Competition in camp is always a good thing. Indeed, each position should have a camp battle because that brings out the best of everyone. According to the coach, the competition is going well.

"I’m seeing excellent direction," Stukes said. "I’m seeing excellent hang–I actually just went and watched the practice up there. They’re doing a good job of getting the ball to the numbers and outside the numbers and that’s where we want the ball to be. Obviously, they’re doing a good job of the hang time. The more hang we have, the guys with the ability are able to get down the field and make plays on the ball, and that’s what we want to do.”

The hangtime comment is interesting, particularly with Waitman, who had a punt hangtime of 4.9-plus seconds more than once during practice. It will be interesting to see how this battle develops over the coming weeks.

Cost is going to be a factor in the punter competition. Sam Martin will cost $2.7 million against the cap, and cutting him would free up $2.250M. On the flip side, Waitman is on a minimum deal worth $825,000, so Martin will have to be nearly $1.5 million better than Waitman.

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Montrell Washington has Impressed Early

"First and foremost, like I mentioned when the coaches caught the ball off of the JUGs, if you can’t catch the ball of the JUGs, there is an issue," Stukes said. "[WR] Montrell [Washington] has come out here, he’s done a great job as far as body position and as far as catching mechanics. Montrell is a hard worker. He’s humble but he’s confident. He’s confident in his ability and so am I. I’ve been pleasantly pleased with how Montrell has handled it."

This is good to hear. Making the jump from Samford to the NFL is a challenging task. You must have confidence in your ability to make that jump and do as well as Washington has.

However, Washington should stand out in the practice setting without pads on. He is fast and does well in space. Stukes also spoke on that, as they need to see Washington look as good in pads, in a stadium as he does in padless practices.

"Now playing in a stadium or playing in front of a crowd is a lot different than in training camp right here," Stukes said. "But when he enters the stadium, he should be the first on the field to catch the punt off of a live foot when we go to preseason, when we go to the regular season. Then you have a better gage on what Montrell can do once we get to the preseason or when we get to a competitive period out here where we’re actually tackling or something like that. Right now, we’re just running down and tagging, so he should be as confident as he can be because nobody is going to hit him in this type of setting.”

Unpadded practice showings should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it is still noteworthy how much praise has been revolving around Washington.

A Darkhorse Solidifying Roster Spot

There have been multiple occasions where Stukes has mentioned rush linebacker Aaron Patrick as a key special teams player. The first time, Stukes referred to Patrick as a core special teams player. This time, the coordinator broached Patrick's name when discussing why players shy away from contact on special teams.

"You’d be surprised," Stukes said. "Coaching 15 years in this league, we’ve had guys that once the pads come on, it’s a different ball game. It’s grown men out there. You have some guys who are younger and not as strong as some of these other veterans. Once they see a big guy like ‘AP’ [OLB Aaron Patrick] or [ILB Barrington] Wade or whomever–[OLB Jonathan] Cooper–it’s a little different punch than in college.”

When watching the 2021 special teams, Patrick stood out and became a core contributor. While he only played in 12 games, he played 209 special teams snaps. Only five players saw more time on special teams than Patrick, with Jonathon Cooper, whom Stukes also mentioned, being one of them.

When it comes to building the roster, special teams can often be overlooked. However, when it comes to those bottom-of-the-depth chart roster spots, that is where the special teams' coordinator often gets his say.

Patrick seems to be one of Stukes' guys, so it will be interesting whether he can secure a spot on the roster when the edge rusher position is as strong as it is.

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