The Broncos are looking for 8-10 core guys to fix their special teams

The sign isn’t hanging at Dove Valley. But it might as well be. And the message would be simple:

“Wanted: Special teams players.”

Everyone knows that the Broncos have struggled in that phase of the game the past few years. They’ve given up big plays. They’ve failed in the return game. And they’ve had embarrassing gaffes, seemingly on a weekly basis.

Brock Olivo couldn’t fix it. Tom McMahon couldn’t either.

Now, it’s Dwayne Stukes’ turn to rectify the Broncos kicking game. And Denver’s new special teams coordinator isn’t messing around.

On Wednesday, he met the media after the Broncos voluntary minicamp practice. Stukes made it clear that he’s looking for a few select players to help turn around Denver’s special teams.

“We’re looking for between eight to 10 guys,” Stukes explained. “We have standards of a core guy. They have to grade out at a certain level to be considered a core player for us. It not that he’s on the field. It’s not that he plays four phases. I get tired of hearing that. A player has to grade out at a certain percentage and play at a high level consistently to help us. That’s a core player.”

Where will those players come from? Well, anywhere and everywhere. Starters. Backups. Young players. Veterans. All are candidates to play on special teams.

“I’m not going to be chasing guys around the building; that’s not my mindset,” Stukes said. “I was a special teams player. I never started in the league, so I relate more to the guys who grind to earn a position.”

When looking for players who can become one of those eight to 10 core guys on specials teams, the Broncos are looking for certain traits. More specifically, they’re looking for a particular attitude.

“We want physical guys. We want violent guys. That’s just my mindset. That’s my mentality,” Stukes explained. “You have to have some kind of physicality, some kind of violent nature about yourself to perform at a high level on the football field. There’s no need or room for guys to be soft or passive on the field. We want to have an attack mentality. We want to be physical. We want to be violent. We want to dictate the flow of the game to our opponents. I’m not going to shy away from that.”

That comes with a caveat.

“Obviously, they have to be smart and know the rules,” the special teams coordinator added. “When I talk about physicality and an attack mentality, I don’t want to do it at risk of being reckless. We want to be smart. We want to be prepared to deal with whatever the opponent gives us.”

That’s a stark contrast to previous seasons, when the Broncos special teams was victimized by their opponents. They were consistently pushed around and dominated.

“I’m not going to disrespect anyone’s scheme and what they did,” Stukes said when asked about last year. “Is there room for improvement? We all know there’s room for improvement, right? We were 32nd (in the league) in a couple of categories. We’re trying to address that. To talk about what they did last year is not really going to help us moving forward.”

Instead, the Broncos are focusing on creating a new culture.

“I want to cultivate and build a standard around here where guys want to be a part of special teams,” Stukes continued.

The new coordinator is already starting to see the

“I’ve got guys coming to me every day saying they want to return (kicks / punts); they just haven’t had the opportunity to do it yet,” Stukes added. “Everybody has done everything they’ve been asked to do. I’ve been overly thrilled with the group of guys we have.”

Here’s hoping it translates to better play on the field. It certainly sounds like the Broncos will be better on special teams. Their new coordinator in that phase is adamant about making sure it happens.

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