What You Need to Know:

• Sutton sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder a few days before the start of last season and missed the opener.
• He returned for Week 2 but lasted just 31 snaps before suffering a season-ending torn ACL and MCL in his left knee.
• Sutton had resumed jogging by February and was running routes in March. He said in mid-May that the “game plan” is to be ready for training camp.
• Sutton was the 40th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft after totaling 2,331 yards and 22 TDs over his final 2 seasons at SMU.
• He posted a 42-704-4 line and WR50 PPR finish as a rookie in 2018.
• Sutton boosted his numbers across the board in 2019: 72 catches, 1,112 yards and 6 TDs. All 3 marks easily led the Broncos. Sutton finished 19th among WRs in PPR points and 18th in non-PPR.
• Among 79 WRs with 50+ targets in 2019, Sutton ranked 12th in yards per route run and 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade.
• He’ll face much tougher target competition this year than he did back in 2019. WRs Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler should take steps forward in their 2nd seasons. And TE Noah Fant is still on the ascent entering year 3.
• The Broncos traded for QB Teddy Bridgewater in April. He’ll compete with QB Drew Lock for the starting job.
• Bridgewater sports a career 66.5% completion rate and 7.3 yards per attempt average -- much better than Lock’s 59.1% completion rate and 6.6 yards per attempt through 2 seasons.
• Whether Lock takes a significant step forward in 2021 or Bridgewater beats him out, Denver should get better QB play this season than last.
• OC Pat Shurmur returns for his 2nd season with the Broncos in 2021.
  • The 2020 Broncos ranked 19th in pass attempts and 20th in pass rate.
  • Shurmur has tended to be a pass-leaning play caller, with 9 of his previous 11 NFL offenses finishing top 16 in pass attempts.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

We’ll track Sutton’s recovery from last September’s torn ACL and MCL t…