DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 30: River Cracraft #11 of the Denver Broncos returns a punt against the Los Angeles Chargers at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on December 30, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos secondary is awesome once again

The Denver Broncos secondary is awesome once again by Sayre Bedinger

The Denver Broncos need a punt returner capable of helping the team flip field position. Who is going to be the guy for the 2019 season?

Just in case anyone forgot, the Denver Broncos need someone to return punts.

In the famous words spoken on Disney’s classic The Mighty Ducks — “I knew we forgot something!”

The Broncos only returned 30 punts last year, so perhaps this is not as big of a deal as I’m about to make it, but I would also hope that the Broncos plan on forcing a lot of punts this year with Vic Fangio’s defense being put into place.

Among the 30 punt returns for the Broncos in 2018, 10 (one third) were taken by veteran Adam “Pacman” Jones.

(Insert ‘yikes’ emoji here)

Of the other 20 punts returned by the Broncos, 12 were fielded by River Cracraft for an average of 3.3 yards per return.

Cracraft and Jones (who accounted for 22/30 returns for the Broncos) averaged 2.9 yards per return (3.3 for Cracraft, 2.5 for Jones).

Two other punts were returned by Isaiah McKenzie. Not surprisingly, the three punts each returned by Phillip Lindsay and DaeSean Hamilton yielded the best results. They averaged nine yards per return between the two of them.

The Broncos’ decision to actually let Jones go out there and return punts in his mid-30s last year looks insane in hindsight. Not to mention, the guy just couldn’t play anymore in general.

Thanks, Vance.

They even let Jones wear the 24 jersey for the first time since Champ Bailey retired.

Cracraft was put back there as the main returner because of his punt catching ability, not necessarily his return ability.

Averaging 3.3 yards per return on 12 returns, it’s easy to see that Cracraft has a lot of work to do in this area of his game.

So who are the Broncos going to use on returns this season?

Cracraft will undoubtedly be given another shot, but will Hamilton’s involvement in the offense prevent him from being a true option?

What about someone like Brendan Langley, who was a good punt returner in college?

Speaking of Langley, why was he not given a single opportunity to return punts last year?

The Broncos brought in a number of UDFAs who can return punts including Trinity Benson and Kelvin McKnight, who each have speed and shiftiness in the open field.

The dark horse candidate here is rookie sixth-round pick Juwann Winfree. Winfree could be given a shot to show what he can do as a return specialist, something he did in high school but not in college.

He certainly has the speed and ability after the catch do it.

I would not mind seeing Hamilton get a shot again but you also want to make sure as a coaching staff that he is fresh for his role in the offense.

Training camp and preseason play will go a long way towards deciding what the Broncos do at this position, but the candidates on the roster currently don’t have a ton of NFL experience or NFL production in this particular area.

Who is that guy who can help turn the tide of a game with a big return touchdown? You have to have someone who can not only catch the ball cleanly and consistently, but someone with speed, field vision, and elusiveness in the open field.

In an ideal world, I think Brendan Langley is that guy for the Broncos, but time will tell.