Can Jeremy Crawshaw give the Broncos the blaster they need at punter?

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When Jeremy Crawshaw punted during Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, Ala. in late January, it just SOUNDED different when the ball came off his foot.

Not like a punt. Sometimes like a cannon blast echoing around a nearly-empty Hancock Whitney Stadium. And that’s something the Broncos could use.

“We felt like he’s the best punter in the draft,” general manager George Paton said.

He was also the only punter in this year’s draft. Since 2000, at least one punter has been drafted each year, so the chances that this year’s annual selection meeting would pass without one punter going off the board were remote. And by and large, Crawshaw was the favorite to be selected.

Thus, if the Broncos wanted the punter at the head of this year’s class, they couldn’t wait; they had to pounce on the University of Florida team captain right then and there.

One intriguing aspect of Crawshaw is that he has the driver, so to speak, to flip the field when needed. But in the last two seasons, when he changed from a rugby-style run-up delivery to a traditional football-style punt, his placement improved.

His hang time did, too; according to data compiled by Pro Football Focus, he ranked fifth in college football in average hang time (minimum 35 punts).

Crawshaw appears to have all the clubs in his bag.

“This guy’s got a really big leg, and look at his growth that he’s had over the last couple of years,” Paton said. “The net wasn’t as high as this year but in the past, we feel like he can do everything: punt for distance, directionally, controlled hang, really good holder, good teammate.

“We feel really strong about him.”

Clearly, so does special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi; according to Crawshaw, the two had lunches — plural — and the new Broncos assistant ‘worked pretty intently” with Crawshaw during his pro day.

WHY THE BRONCOS NEED JEREMY CRAWSHAW

Of course, they find themselves in a jam at punter because they failed to re-sign Riley Dixon in free agency.

With changes sweeping through the team’s special-teams unit after the hiring of Darren Rizzi as special-teams coordinator, Dixon opted to reunite with his special-teams coordinator from the New York Giants, Thomas McGaughey, and sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Denver made a push to sign Dallas’ Bryan Anger in free agency, but he opted to remain with the Cowboys. Thus, the Broncos signed Matt Haack, who punted for Rizzi in Miami in 2017 and 2018.

But Haack’s performance has declined in recent years. Denver is Haack’s eighth team since New Year’s Day 2021. And in five of seven seasons, Haack has ranked in the bottom third of the league in across-the-board rankings.

Haack has just 24 regular-season punts in the last two years and hasn’t been a full-time punter since the 2022 season with Indianapolis.

Still, Haack has experience and the wisdom that comes with it. Plenty of drafted punters have lost competitions; in 2001, Denver drafted Nick Harris in the fourth round and he lost to incumbent Tom Rouen. Harris went on to a 12-season career, but strictly in Broncos terms, he was a bust.

“Matt Haack has already been in the league for a long time, and I’ve watched a lot of film on him,” Crawshaw said. “I’m kind of just looking forward to competing. It will just be a bit of fun.”

The Broncos hope that watching Crawshaw in Denver will be as much fun as it was seeing him work in college.

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