Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton should have nodded in improvement Thursday when new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur discussed challenging defenses down the field.

“I think we have some players that can be productive with a deep ball,” Shurmur said.

In his second pro season, Sutton proved adept on throws downfield, leaping for catches or drawing penalties. His 18 catches of at least 20 yards were tied for eighth-most in the NFL and his average distance on those catches was 34.8 yards (according to Stats, Inc.), fourth-best among the 16 leaders in 20-yard catches.

Sutton had 72 catches for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns in 2019 while playing for three quarterbacks (Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen and Drew Lock.).

So what does the next step look like for Sutton? I asked Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver/current NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin during Super Bowl Week.

“I love his maturation and his progress and the way he’s coming along and he’ll keep learning the game,” Irvin said. “He’s learning how to get open and he made some phenomenal plays and catches.

“The next step for him is to continue to learn not how to get open, but also understand when to be open — that means he understands the progression on every play and let’s say he’s the back-side slant, he’ll learn, ‘I don’t have to beat my man quickly because I know (Lock) is reading front-side first so I can beat him late and still make those plays.’”

Great analysis by Irvin, which raised another point for Shurmur: Expanding where Sutton catches the football. The Broncos didn’t use Sutton via at-the-line-of-scrimmage throws until the second half of the season. Add more of that and the slant routes Irvin pointed out, it will make defenses have to account for those plays and perhaps leaving an opening downfield for a shot.

“When Courtland gets all of that down, he’s going to take off and he’ll make a living at the Pro Bowl every year because he has that physical skillset,” Irvin said.

All-Free Agent Team

The window for teams to use the franchise tag opens Feb. 25, so some of these players may not make it to market and others may re-sign with their teams. But …

QB: Tom Brady, New England. Yes, he’ll be 43 in Week 1, but he could be a short-term boon for another team.

RB: Derrick Henry, Tennessee. The league’s leading rusher in 2019 (1,540 yards), he would have a big market if he makes it that far.

TE: Greg Olsen, Carolina and Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers. Olsen is already taking visits (Seattle and Washington) or could jump right into the FOX broadcast booth.

WR: A.J. Green, Cincinnati and Amari Cooper, Dallas. Does Green want to be a part of a rebuild or chase a ring?

OL: Brandon Scherff (G), Washington; Jack Conklin (RT), Tennessee; Connor McGovern (C), Broncos; Joe Thuney (G), New England and Anthony Castonzo (LT), Indianapolis. McGovern’s market will be interesting if a team thinks he is better off at guard.

DL: Yannick Ngakoue, Jacksonville; Shelby Harris, Broncos; Chris Jones, Kansas City and Leonard Williams, New York Giants. Harris will have multiple teams offering big money to leave the Broncos.

LB: Dante Fowler, Los Angeles Rams; Shaq Barrett, Tampa Bay; Cory Littleton, Rams and Kamalei Correa, Tennessee. Fowler and Barrett signed one-year deals to make sure they re-entered free agency in 2020.

DB: Chris Harris (CB), Broncos; Anthony Harris (S), Minnesota; Justin Simmons (S), Broncos and Aqib Talib (CB), Miami. See why Chris Harris should want to test the market? Not much depth at cornerback.

Around the league

Beasley on move. The Atlanta Falcons took the unique step of announcing on Twitter that they would not be re-signing pass rusher Vic Beasley. I appreciate the transparency, but don’t expect other teams to follow. Beasley led the league with 15 1/2 sacks in 2016, but had only 18 in the last three years combined.

Jaguars’ new normal. In a move that felt inevitable for several years, the Jaguars will play two home games — on back-to-back weekends — this year in London. They played one game each season from 2013-19. Officials said it is a one-year arrangement, but let’s not kid ourselves — unless a major Jacksonville stadium renovation is undertaken, two games in London will be the norm. It’s not the beginning of the end of the NFL in Jacksonville (where would they move in the U.S.?), but rather the city’s new normal.

Special teams rankings. Veteran football writer Rick Gosselin’s 41st annual special teams rankings, compiled using 22 categories, placed the Broncos 21st (376 points). The top five were New Orleans, Cincinnati, New England, Washington and Jacksonville. The Broncos were 24th in 2018.

Briefly. Derek Dooley, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock’s offensive coordinator at Missouri in 2017, is back in the NFL as a senior offensive assistant with the New York Giants. Dooley spent time in Dallas working for current Giants play-caller Jason Garrett. … Philadelphia is appearing to go the San Francisco route on its offensive coaching staff. Coach/play-caller Doug Pederson reportedly won’t hire a coordinator, instead having run game and pass game coordinators. The Eagles hired former Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello as a senior offensive assistant. … At this month’s Combine, the media availability for players has been moved to the morning to accommodate having the on-field workouts start in late afternoon Eastern time (2 p.m. in Denver) and stretch through prime-time. … Friday was the first day the Broncos could pick up 2020 contract options on outside linebacker Von Miller, inside linebacker Todd Davis, right guard Ron Leary and kicker Brandon McManus. General manager John Elway said Dec. 30 that Miller’s option would be picked up…. An easy fix for the NFL if it wants to showcase the Rams and Chargers in their new Los Angeles stadium in Week 1 and avoid rush-hour traffic: Have the Rams play Sunday night (6:20 p.m. local time) and the Chargers play the late Monday night game (7:20 p.m. local time).