Written by Claudia Sly
With the 40th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos selected 22-year-old wide receiver Courtland Sutton out of Southern Methodist University.
Sutton is 218 pounds, and is a big receiver at 6’3” and has a background in basketball. Many analysts projected that the Dallas Cowboys would draft him either the first or second round as a potential replacement for recently released wide receiver Dez Bryant. Now, he will join wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in Denver. Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway spoke about Sutton after drafting him stating, “He has tremendous upside as a player and on top of that is a great person.”
Sutton was a three-star recruit out of Texas and received a medical redshirt his freshman year season at SMU, after just playing two games. Then, when former SMU head coach Chad Morris came in and took over Sutton saw his playing time increase and improved drastically. He had nine touchdowns in the 2015 and 10 in 2016. Sutton had high expectations heading into his junior season, as he was a preseason dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. He had a strong year statistically, even though he faced double-coverage the majority of the time. This actually ended up helping SMU’s offense become a top ten of offense in college football.
Sutton is one of the quickest and fastest receivers in this draft class, as he ran a 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in 4.54 seconds. There is a great deal of hope for him this season and his ability. His one-handed catches are incredible and his hands are amazing. Depending on how he gets off coverage, Sutton has the potential to be a special player in his career, not just this season. Some analysts and scouts had a first-round grade for him, but Denver was able to get tremendous value by selecting him in the second round. The Broncos have done well in the top of the draft, selecting him and maybe the best defensive prospect in the draft, linebacker Bradley Chubb from NC State.
