ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — A speedster and superior athlete, Marvin Mims Jr. may well have been in Paris right now had life led him on a path other than to the Denver Broncos.
“I’d say my best bet might be 110 (meter) hurdles,’’ Mims said in a sit-down interview this week with 9NEWS. “I ran the hurdles in middle school track.”
Won a few track meets?
“I won all the meets,’’ he said with a smile. “In middle school, yeah. That’s probably my best bet. Other than that, I don’t know. The 100 would be hard. I love to play basketball but I’m 5-11 and there’s not many 5-11 basketball players out there.’’
He's built just fine as not only the Broncos’ top returner but one of the two or three best in the NFL. Aside from first-round quarterback Bo Nix, Mims is the next player who offers the most hope the Broncos can outpace the low preseason projections the oddsmakers and national pundits have bestowed.
The NFL, you see, was not happy all but 21 percent of kickoffs last year were touchbacks. They want north of 30 percent to be returned. So they came up with a new kickoff rule that features different alignments, lower kicks and an added yardage deterrent for touchbacks.
Mims was second in the league in kickoff returns as a rookie last season with a 26.5 yard average and first in punt returns at 16.4. The new kickoff will create somewhat of a cross between punt and kickoff returns.
Mims, who had a 99-yard kickoff touchdown return against Miami last season, should put the Broncos in better position than others to steal a game or two through special teams.
“It will be different,’’ Mims said. “The old kickoff rule, I’ve been in it since high school and then college. Changing the rule, it’s going to be a lot of learning, a huge learning curve for us but the point of it is to gain more big returns. Less touchbacks. More actual plays on the kickoff and kickoff return game.
“We’re looking forward to it, being one of the best units in the league last year and now coming in this year with a different rule, we’re changing stuff up, but we want to be one of the teams to hit it straight out of the gate.”
When the league’s competition committee was proposing the new kickoff setup to its owners and coaches in late-March, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was the first one to raise his hand in the affirmative. There’s going to be more kickoff returns and we have Marvin Mims? Yes, sign us up.
“Trust me, we’re in favor of it,'' Payton said Saturday following a practice in which kickoff return received its share of time. "We like it because we think we return kicks and cover kicks just as well as anyone. We think we coach it well.''
“I think a lot of teams are going to have to kick it to me,’’ Mims said. “There’s going to be a huge decision if they want to take that automatic ball at the 30 or if they want to risk it and give us a chance to return it. We’ll see what happens.”
As much for Mims’ return skills, the Broncos need him to come on this year as a receiver. During practice Friday, Broncos’ pass game coordinator Johnny Morton harped on Mims following a route during a position drill. The coach knows there’s more Mims can get out of himself as an offensive playmaker.
A second-round draft pick out of Oklahoma last year and still only 22 years old, Mims was the team’s best deep-ball threat last season. However, a 60-yard touchdown reception from Russell Wilson in game 2 against Washington turned out to be Mims’ first and last scoring catch of the season. He finished with just 22 catches, albeit for a 17.1 yard average.
He should provide greater production this year. A big reason why the Broncos traded away No. 2 receiver Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland in March was to create room for Mims to step up.
“Yeah, for sure, just going through practice, hearing the different stuff, different things, a lot of it is carrying over from last year,’’ he said. “As far as plays, routes.
“Now, I’m getting more reps at those different plays and just getting used to it. Trying to do the best I can do with these different plays when the opportunity is called.”
After last season, Mims had one more game to play. An event that was closer to Olympic-type events than football, really. The Pro Bowl. He made the AFC team as a returner and got to participate in a flag football game and other off-the-wall sporting activities.
For a rookie, it doesn’t get much better.
“It was crazy. Going through the season and trying to do my job to the best of my ability. And then get towards the end of the season and you get the call to be in the Pro Bowl. It was cool,’’ Mims said. “I mean it was great to be around those guys you kind of grow up watching. Just being with them, hearing how they talk about the game, getting to know them personally. Hanging out with them outside of football. It was a real cool experience.”
His goal for year 2 with the Broncos?
“Just keep getting better,” he said.
The way Payton mapped out the training camp schedule, the players will only have two off days through the first three weeks – last Sunday and today. That doesn’t leave Mims much time to watch the Olympics but he did turn on the TV last week.
“For sure I watched the basketball,’’ he said. “That’s probably my favorite Olympic sport. I try to pay attention as much as I can. I watched a little water polo.
“I think it’s cool to watch the things I couldn’t do at all. Like water polo, I couldn’t swim for that long and play that game. Like gymnastics, that’s what I find fun to watch because I couldn’t imagine doing it.”
He can do plenty on a football field. Returner. Receiver. End around running back. If Mims has a big year, the Broncos should be better than people think.
“I think with the guys we have this year, having a young team, I think everyone for the most part has something to prove,’’ Mims said. “They’re all guys that want more or are really young. So we’re all coming into the season ready to get to it.
“No one’s really paying attention to what they’re saying outside of this building. But as a young team we’re hungry for success and every opportunity we get being young players we’re going to make the most of it.”
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