Courtland

Sutton

Sutton simply ran cardio in this one. The Broncos’ No. 1 wide receiver led the receiving corps with 46 offensive snaps, yet earned just two targets. His lone reception occurred with roughly six minutes left in the third quarter. To Sutton’s credit, he successfully forced a missed tackle after QB Bo Nix dumped off to him on 3rd-and-8. Unfortunately, Sutton was unable to pick up the first down. He goes on bye next week with the Broncos having secured the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.

Sutton easily led the Broncos in targets, earning a 26 percent target share in total. While an eight-point floor in PPR formats is nice, he could have put a gift under the tree for fantasy managers with a score at the end of the first half. Bo Nix hit him right in the hands on an in-breaking route in the end zone. Sutton initially corralled the pass, but a hard hit from Chiefs safety Bryan Cook jarred the ball loose. It wasn’t Sutton’s only drop of the night, though it was his most costly. Sutton is still the clear No. 1 receiver for Denver and should be able to put the drops behind him next week. With a bye week on the line versus the Chargers in Week 18, Sutton will remain in the WR2 ranks.

Sutton led the Broncos in all receiving categories as he has re-established himself as Bo Nix’s top target over the past few weeks. He now has three touchdown receptions over his past four games, and nearly came down with a second score on Sunday. Sutton had a whopping 223 air yards and a 27 percent target share. Coming off his second 100-yard game of the 2025 season in Week 15, Sutton once again profiles as a locked-in WR2 in 12-team leagues. He’ll be a must-play in Week 17 against the Chiefs.

Sutton came up with several big plays in this one, starting with a 42-yard reception in the second quarter that helped position the Broncos for a five-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey two plays later. In the third quarter, Sutton hauled in a leaping catch in the end zone for a 14-yard score to put the Broncos up 23-21, and on a pivotal fourth and two in the fourth quarter, Sutton hauled in a 26-yard pass down the left sideline to extend a drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown run by RJ Harvey. Sutton continues to be the only consistently reliable receiving option in the Broncos’ offense, and will be on the high-end WR3 radar in Week 16 against the Jaguars.

Payton added that if this were a playoff game, Payton would probably be playing. But this is management with the hope of getting things in shape for Bryant down the line. Marvin Mims will find more snaps in Week 15 and both Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton should get a slight workload upgrade.

Sutton delivers serviceable results, but his day could have been a lot bigger. On the Broncos’ second drive, Raiders CB Darien Porter broke up what would have been a 15-yard contested catch for Sutton along the sideline. Sutton’s more consequential missed opportunity occurred late in the fourth quarter, when he got open on a post route from five yards out and allowed a target from QB Bo Nix to clang off his hands in the back of the end zone. Sutton is a WR3 against the Packers in Week 15.

Sutton has now gone five games without notching more than five catches or 67 yards, clearly seeing a dip in volume and production with the team in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. He continues to be emphasized in the red zone, evidenced by his fifth touchdown grab of the season, but fantasy managers continue to be left wanting more from their early-round selection this offseason. He’ll have another solid opportunity to crack into higher yardage totals when the Broncos face the Raiders in Week 14.

He had an absolutely essential catch in this game of a low Bo Nix throw on third-and-long at the two-minute warning to keep the Broncos offense on the field. It’s not like Courtland Sutton has been a major fantasy football problem this year. The targets are fine. He’s scored in four-of-11 games. He’s gone over 80 yards five times. But it feels like the Sutton/Troy Franklin alliance has shifted sharply towards Franklin in the last four games. Sutton hasn’t cracked 67 yards since Week 7 and has just one touchdown to show for it. He’ll be on the WR3 line coming out of Denver’s Week 12 bye, but this has felt a little more tenuous than you’d hope lately as Denver has spread the ball around plenty and featured Franklin.

Sutton was able to salvage last week’s disappointing effort with a touchdown. This week it’s just disappointment. The wideout was an afterthought in the passing game for much of the contest, and the Raiders clearly were more comfortable letting Troy Franklin ‘beat’ them (5/40/1). The wideout now has just 54 yards over his last two games, and while he remains on the WR2 radar, there’s risk that comes with potential reward for Week 11 against the Chiefs.

Sutton scored against Derek Stingley in what looked to be a play where Stingley expected safety help but didn’t get it. If you’re going to catch one ball, make it a 30-yard touchdown. Weirdly seeing his targets decline of late — he now has fewer than Troy Franklin on the season despite being a much better player — Sutton will remain a fantasy WR2 in Week 10 against the Raiders.