Broncos wideout Decker catching attention and producing praise
By Lindsay H. Jones
The Denver Post
Sure, it was just a seven-on-seven drill. But in one practice play Monday at Broncos training camp, wide receiver Eric Decker made a believer out of cornerback Champ Bailey.
Decker, in his second NFL season, beat Bailey for a deep touchdown pass from Kyle Orton, drawing oohs and aahs from the fans watching at Dove Valley team headquarters.
Bailey laughed, saying had there been a pass rush, maybe the result would have been different. But he's clearly sold on the leap Decker has made.
Decker played in 14 games as a rookie and made six catches for 106 yards. All of his catches came in the final six games of the season, including his first touchdown in the last game.
"You can tell he's been working," Bailey said. "His confidence is there. He has made a tremendous step in the right direction."
Consider it quite the change from Decker's first training camp last year, when he arrived unsure about playing on his surgically repaired foot while fighting for snaps in a crowded field of wide receivers.
A year later, Decker is the healthiest he has been in a long time, and the Minnesota Gophers product is among the Broncos' top three wideouts, joining Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal.
"I joked with him that it is a whole lot easier the second time around, especially when you're not nursing a toe. The combination of those things had to be hard on him," Denver coach John Fox said. "You could see as the season went on he got a lot of production, and now he has just taken off. I'm expecting big things from him."
So is Orton.
Decker flew to Denver in May to join Orton for some passing sessions before the conditioning workouts organized by safety Brian Dawkins and trainer Loren Landow. Orton later flew to Minnesota to join Decker for more workouts.
The quarterback and receiver clearly have developed chemistry and trust strong enough to overcome an afternoon that Decker would surely like to forget.
Decker dropped one pass and caught another outside of the end zone in the team's Aug. 6 scrimmage at Invesco Field at Mile High.
But when the Broncos' starters needed a third-down conversion in their only series of the preseason opener last week at Dallas, there was no question for Orton that Decker was his No. 1 target.
This time, Decker made the catch — good for a 29-yard gain.
"He's still making mistakes, like any young player, but he won't make the same mistake in the next practice and that's really big," Orton said. "I've told him that an outside receiver can make mistakes here and there, but when he's working inside, he needs to be perfect. I need to trust him and know that he's going to be right, because if he makes a mistake, I'm in trouble."
At 6-foot-3 and 218 pounds, Decker is the Broncos' biggest wide receiver (at least until
Demaryius Thomas recovers from his Achilles tendon injury), yet he said he is "usually pegged as a slot guy" — the wideout who lines up inside the offensive formation and runs routes in the middle of the field. Decker is hoping, though, to prove versatile enough to also line up on the outside.
During camp, he has worked mostly as the "Z" receiver — outside when the team uses just two wide receivers and in the slot when it goes to three.
"I like to be more versatile because it gives me the ability to be on the field more," Decker said. "They are different, though. Outside is more just route running. Inside you got to know the defense, where to sit in the holes and stuff, so that's fun."
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