Denver Broncos: Could Dorial Green-Beckham be a possibility?

Dorial Green-Beckham was once considered a high-upside wide receiver. After being released and clearing waivers, should the Denver Broncos take a chance on him?

The Philadelphia Eagles cut ties with Dorial Green-Beckham on June 30 to make room for quarterback Dane Evans. Green-Beckham’s poor play during minicamp was part of the reason why the Eagles went their separate ways from the talented wide receiver prospect. He also suffered a minor foot injury while practicing with the Eagles.

Perhaps a change of scenery could be the best thing for Green-Beckham, considering the Eagles signed both Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery in free agency. The team also has Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson. The roster is log-jammed with talent at the wide receiver position and the odds of him getting enough targets to make an impact for the Eagles is highly unlikely. Green-Beckham now gets the chance to test free agency to see if another team will take a chance on him.

He was a considered one of the top wide receiver prospects during his tenure at Missouri, catching 59 passes for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns during his sophomore season. He then was cut from Missouri’s football program due to legal issues. He then transferred to Oklahoma where he practiced with the team for a season before entering the NFL Draft.

His Combine measurables are what made him one of the top wide receivers prospects in his draft class. He ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash while standing at 6-5 and weighing 237 pounds. Green-Green-Beckham also displayed great short area quickness by running a 6.89-second three cone. He loosely compared to Calvin Johnson due to his size-adjusted athleticism. Talents like Green-Beckham are rare and is one of the reasons why the Tennessee Titans decided to spend a second-round pick on him in the 2015 NFL Draft.

During his tenure with the Titans, he managed to catch 32 passes for 549 yards and four touchdowns while catching 47.8 percent of the passes thrown his way. His best game as a rookie came during Week 13 when he caught six passes for 119 yards and a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After his rookie season, Green-Beckham was considered a breakout candidate for the following year.

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The Titans decided to trade him for offensive guard Dennis Kelly from the Philadelphia Eagles in August 2016. The deal caused Green-Beckham to fall behind due to landing with his new team during the latter portion of training camp. His tenure with the Eagles wasn’t very productive as he caught just 36 passes for 392 yards and two touchdowns while catching 48.6 percent of the passes thrown his way. He was used sparingly in games as a rotational option off the bench, playing just 56.7 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

Now released after his stint in Philadelphia, should the Denver Broncos take a look at Green-Beckham, or should they ignore him due to his checkered past?

The team is currently locked down with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders as the team’s two top receivers. From there, things get a little shady with Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler and rookie Carlos Henderson battling for the third spot on the depth chart. There’s absolutely room for him on the depth chart considering the lack of talent at the back end of the roster at wide receiver.

By adding competition, he could elevate the play of some of the other receivers on the rosters. Competition brings out the best of most athletes and adding a talented prospect like Green-Beckham should only help the rest of the wide receivers develop their skill sets.

The worst thing that could happen would be he fails in training camp and the Broncos would have to release him before the 2017 season. However, the team wouldn’t need to make much of an investment to sign him as a free agent and if he does fail, then the team wouldn’t be out much in terms of capital.

Signing Green-Beckham could stunt the growth of some of the developing wide receivers on the roster by taking away some of their reps in training camp. This project could be an entire waste of time while the team needs to be worrying about developing their young quarterback than focusing their time trying to increase competition at wide receiver.

This isn’t a strong argument to why the team shouldn’t take a look at Green-Beckham, but you should always look at both sides of the coin to determine if there are any drawbacks to taking a chance on a player.

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He was an early second-round pick two years ago and was considered one of the top wide receiver prospects in the league at one time. Prospects with his type of talent don’t usually come cheap and the Broncos have the chance to acquire his talents for a bare minimum price. There’s nothing to lose here. If he fails, the team cuts him — and if he succeeds, then the team gets a quality asset at a very affordable price.

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