Broncos' Royal blazes past usual rookie receivers struggles

Typically, new NFL wideouts susceptible to wipeouts

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 30, 2008 at 4:28 p.m.

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Photo by Michael Dwyer / Associated Press

Broncos rookie receiver Eddie Royal hauls in a pass in front of Patriots cornerback Mike Richardson. Receivers who relied on speed and athleticism in college are in for a rude awakening in the NFL. "The speed changes, the intensity changes, it's a lot more physical," Royal said.

Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images/2007

Dolphins second-year wideout Ted Ginn suffered growing pains last season.

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As far as awakenings go, rude may be putting it far too mildly.

Brutal, perhaps. Alarming, maybe.

But for first-year receivers in the NFL, history says - almost demands - that it will be a struggle. That's because for almost everybody at that position who has tried making the transition from college to the pros, it always has been difficult.

"You line up and you know pretty quick that everybody is pretty much fast," said Broncos receiver Darrell Jackson, in his ninth year. "That you're going to see super-fast athletes - off-the-charts fast some weeks - and the rest of the time, everybody else is fast. The routes are the same, the field is the same, but the speed you face as a receiver when you first get in the league is totally different.

"Doesn't take very long - maybe one play - to notice."

And Sunday, when the Broncos and Dolphins meet at Invesco Field at Mile High (2:05 p.m., CBS 4), there will be a receiver who has lived through every second of the first-year pain - Miami's Ted Ginn - and one that is trying to avoid it - Denver's Eddie Royal.

Royal, whom the Broncos took in the second round of April's draft, has been a starter since earning the spot in training camp.

And though he has missed one game because of an ankle injury, he is second on the team with 39 receptions, second with 392 receiving yards and tied for second, with several others, with two receiving touchdowns.

The 5-foot-10, 192-pound Royal also is among the league leaders in punt returns at 13.6 yards per runback.

A polished route runner in college - Broncos coach Mike Shanahan consistently has said that's what initially caught his eye - Royal was ahead of most rookies when he came to the Broncos.

Receivers coaches around the league consistently lament that receivers who relied on their speed and athleticism in college struggle early as professionals because they don't run routes sharply enough to escape NFL defensive backs and they can't get free of the DBs' bumps at the line of scrimmage.

So much so that only four receivers taken in the first round of the past 25 drafts have finished with 1,000 yards in their rookie season.

"The speed changes, the intensity changes, it's a lot more physical," Royal said of his transition to the NFL. "So not only are things happening a lot faster, but the (defensive backs) are a lot more physical and can run with you. In college, it's one or the other, a guy is bigger but doesn't run as well, or he's smaller but can run, so you have to be able to adjust.

"For me, being a small receiver, I know I've always got to be able to do the things I need to get separation. I've been working on it to improve for a long time."

As a result, Royal had 100-yard game in his first NFL start - against the Raiders - and has two 100-yard games this season.

Ginn makes his move

Ginn, who had his first career 100-yard receiving game Sunday with 175 yards against the Bills in his 23rd career game, has traveled a far different path. Taken with the ninth pick in the 2007 draft, Ginn's selection was greeted with a cascade of boos at a draft gathering for fans the team held that year.

He then became, for some, the face of a 1-15 Dolphins team as he finished his rookie season with 34 catches for 420 yards and two touchdowns.

But with the fresh start of a new coaching staff, a new offense and accurate Chad Pennington now at quarterback, Ginn has 27 receptions this season for 352 yards and comes to Denver a week removed from his career game.

"We had to remember that Ted Ginn was just a young player," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "He was only in the league for a year - I realize where he was taken and all that - we had to remember that. Sometimes, when you have a young team, you get all caught up and in Ted Ginn you think you have a four- or a five-year veteran and he is just a young guy.

"We went back, we watched a lot of tape. He was getting better at the end of the year . . . playing a little bit faster. We just felt developing a little bit more playing at the line of scrimmage, him watching a little bit more tape that way, studying his opponents, all those good things, would help him a lot - to help him play a little bit faster."

Getting on the same page

Sparano said it's the depth of NFL defenses that often swallow up a receiver as well - that they can't find the open spots at game speed.

"In our league, we see so many different variations of coverage - one coverage can have three different variations to it - and for a receiver, you need to attack it three different ways," Sparano said. "The quarterbacks and the receivers need to be on the same page. I think the receivers nowadays, in our league, they kind of have to think a little bit like quarterbacks. Certainly, they need to put the time in. It's not something where you're going to roll the ball out and have immediate success."

Royal said he also has learned he has to take care of himself to avoid wearing down. He said most rookie receivers who were drafted simply went from their final college season to working out for the combine in February, then working out for their campus workout in March.

Then they had to report to a team for offseason workouts shortly after they were drafted in April.

"That's pretty solid for six months before you even get to training camp," Royal said.

And counting the preseason, he has played in 11 games for the Broncos, with nine still to play. He didn't play more than 13 games in any of his seasons at Virginia Tech.

"I've heard about the rookie 'wall,' but I'm trying to make the most of what I'm doing, having fun with it, working. I'm not worried about any wall," Royal said. "I knew I had to take care of myself when I was in college, but I didn't know it was as important as I do now. You hear it, but you're still a college kid and you still think you can eat what you want and forget the rest. I don't forget any of that now."

• October 30, 2008

  5:22 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  You go for it, Eddie. You have the chance to break all records. Good for you, good for the Broncos, good for the fans. Time to really kick it in, going down the stretch. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• October 31, 2008

  7:06 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  incognitoboy writes:

  ditto, dd!

  one of the brighter spots on this team; shine on baby, shine on!

  wall? i doan see no STEENKIN' wall!

• October 31, 2008

  8:31 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  cutlerscannon13 writes:

  Not only is a stud on the field, but one HELL of a person to boot!

  Good to see some young talent and some great character on the squad this year!!

• October 31, 2008

  10:09 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  CoLoradoCitizen writes:

  Royal proved beyond a doubt that he can play with anybody on the 1st game of the season @ oakland. Unfortunately, Cutler tends to lock onto B.Marshall and the Offense has suffered because of it. There is simply no reason to not throw the ball to Royal equally as much as Marshall. Royal caught balls all night long even with B.Marshall benched, so he can certainly do it with Marshall getting double coverage. This Offense can be lethal if Marshall, Stokely, and Royal (and Scheffler) are all involved by the q.b. But turnovers are guaranteed when B.Marshall gets all the looks, all the passes.

• October 31, 2008

  12:24 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BigRedCelt writes:

  This whole "Cutler looks to Marshal too often" is really unfounded. He's a top NFL reciever and catches propotionaly about the same amount of balls as other top receivers. I just went through nfl.com to confirm my thoughts on this subject. I also looked at how other top passing teams broke down in percentages of their top receivers. Eddie Royal catches a higher percentage of passes than any other 2nd receiver I looked at. This is not the issue many are making it out to be.

• October 31, 2008

  12:24 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  cutlerscannon13 writes:

  Well ColoradoCitizen I somewhat agree, I do know that Cutler has locked in on B. Marshall a majority of the time, but the turnover reason is not really at the fault of that. Most of our turnovers this year have been fumbles, and only 2 of Jay's INTs have been balls in the direction of Marshall.
  But I do agree with the other option point. If you notice Marshall is double teamed, completely ignore him IMO, and punch the ball to Royal then Stokley then Sheffler. I bet that after a few drives of one on one coverage on each of those receivers, they will spread out that D a little more and be less watchful of B Marsh! That way we can take advantage of the mismatch (which if you ask me is Marshall against any of the Dbacks that the Fins can offer up)!!

  Lets get the offense flying like the first 3 weeks and come out the bye with a bang!

• October 31, 2008

  4:08 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Jubei writes:

  I'm hoping that Eddie can be a downfield threat to compliment Marshall, and also keep the defense away from the line of scrimmage. One of the missing pieces the last few games has been the long ball. Part of the problem is that the offense has been turning the ball over. The deep pass requires the QB and receiver to be in rhythm, and it's hard to do that when you're watching the defense from the sidelines after a fumble or an INT.

  I really think this game will be where we see the offense get back on track. Clady and Harris will hold up against Porter with some occasional help from the backs. And Pittman and possibly Torain will help keep the pressure off Jay. Besides, the best way to help out a sketchy defense is to keep them off the field.

  Oh, and put me down for Jack Williams getting an INT off of Brown when they try their Wildcat shenanigans...

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