Jaylen Waddle (foot) will face 49ers in Week 4

Waddle was invisible for much of the game until a late red zone touchdown with the Broncos in up-tempo catch-up mode. It was his first touchdown reception as a Bronco. Waddle, who now has three down games in his first four contests as the Broncos’ nominal WR1, will probably struggle until Denver OC Davis Webb figures out how to maximize his personnel, including the struggling Bo Nix. Against the 49ers Waddle was targeted on a meager 16 percent of his routes. Hopefully that rate will rise in Week 5 against the Chargers.

Waddle was spotted in a boot after Week 3’s win over the Rams. DNVR’s Zac Stevens reported at the time that he was fine and can comfortably take a victory lap now that Payton has said he practiced in full. Waddle posted a dud in Week 3 with two catches for 10 yards, but he ripped off 138 yards the week before that. The production might come in peaks and valleys, but fantasy managers should hold the line and treat him like a WR2 for a potential shootout with the 49ers this week.

Waddle was spotted in a walking boot after the Broncos’ Sunday night win, prompting speculation over his status. Jane reports that Waddle is “fine” while beat reporter Zac Stevens said a source told him “there’s nothing wrong” with the 27-year-old wideout. The boot certainly could have been a precautionary measure but we will wait for Wednesday’s practice report to find out if Waddle is truly dealing with an injury.

Waddle would also add a successful two-point reception in the third quarter to give him a slight boost in counting stats, although the 6.4-point effort left fantasy managers in desperate need of better production from their fourth-round selection in fantasy drafts. Waddle has now sandwiched poor fantasy outings with one usable game through three weeks. Fantasy managers are likely left to ride out the struggles of the Denver offense in hopes of greener pastures, which could come in a Week 4 showdown with the 49ers. Treat Waddle as an upside WR3, at present.

Waddle was targeted on an obscene 42 percent of his pass routes against the Jaguars. He came up a yard short of a long touchdown in the first half and easily led all Denver pass catchers with ten looks from Bo Nix. Broncos OC Davis Webb’s insistence on force feeding Waddle makes the wideout too big to fail in the balanced Denver offense. Despite a letdown of a Week 1 performance against KC, Waddle should be locked into lineups until further notice. He’ll be a top-20 player in Week 3 against the Rams.

Payton was asked if their offseason acquisition, Waddle, was going to be more involved this week than he was in Week 1. Per Payton, they intended to get Waddle more involved, but acknowledged that the team needs to be “more deliberate” about getting him involved, “without forcing it.” The last-second qualifier is a tad unsettling, but we do expect the Broncos to at least look Waddle’s way early, in order to assuage usage concerns. He is a WR2 against the Jaguars this week.

Nix during his postgame presser defended offensive play caller Davis Webb, who took over for head coach Sean Payton this offseason. “The players did not make it easy on [Webb] today,” said Nix, who completed 17-of-28 passes for 131 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in Monday night’s loss to Kansas City. “Pretty pitiful, actually.” Denver had the league’s second lowest drop back EPA of Week 1; only the Falcons were worse. Nix, meanwhile, ranked 28th out of 32 qualifying QBs in Week 1 accuracy. “We called exactly what we prepared for and what we wanted to get to and we just didn’t execute,” Nix said. “Then we were behind.” Webb and the Broncos will look to bounce back in Week 2 against a tough Jaguars defense.

The entire Denver offense struggled to get anything going on a night they managed only 176 yards of total offense, clearly no match for Steve Spagnuolo’s Kansas City defense. Most troubling was the fact that this was the first time new offensive coordinator Davis Webb was calling plays after head coach Sean Payton announced this offseason that he would be relinquishing those duties on game days. It is unclear how long the Broncos will stick with that setup if the offense continues to struggle as it did against the Chiefs, particularly considering the team holds the honor of having the most difficult schedule during the first six weeks of the season. Waddle will look to return to his status as an upside-WR2 when the Broncos host the Jaguars in Week 2.

Nix looked mobile and eager to chuck it downfield. He even had a few overthrows, which we suppose is a good thing for a quarterback who spent the offseason rehabbing an ankle injury. The Broncos quarterback linked up with new WR Jaylen Waddle for a 35-yard gain down the seam and targeted WR Courtland Sutton a couple of times along the sideline. He found tonight’s starting RB RJ Harvey speeding down the right side of the field on a wheel route, and linked up with the second-year running back for a 21-yard touchdown to conclude the first drive. New OC Davis Webb regularly dialed up play action, which is great for fantasy purposes. Nix looks like a low-end QB1.

Waddle missed an extended amount of time due to what was being classified as a muscle strain by head coach Sean Payton. The veteran receiver officially returned to the practice field on Monday, with Payton saying after practice that Waddle was “coming along really well.” We’ll see how things go for Waddle in the coming days, but hopefully this issue is behind him. Waddle is expected to play a big role in the Broncos’ passing game this season and profiles as a solid WR2.