Sean Payton has been talking about Marvin Mims Jr. the same way for years: the Broncos wideout needs more touches.
The problem is the follow-through hasn’t matched the words.
Denver brought in Jaylen Waddle in the offseason to add the kind of wide receiver skill set it had been missing for years. Waddle brings vertical speed, but he also separates with sharp route-running.
Still, that doesn’t erase what the Broncos already had on offense. When healthy, this group can stack up with just about anyone, and Mims is part of that conversation.
Mims is Denver’s All-Pro returner and a receiver built around speed, but his role has barely moved since he entered the league in 2023. And the evidence of Payton saying Mims should get more work is hard to miss.
Thanks to BolieveInNix on Twitter/X, the quotes go back multiple years. On October 26, 2026, the account posted: “He’s been saying he needs to get Marvin Mims Jr. more touches for three years now https://t.co/ksaEMZjGJS pic.twitter.com/AlcNICEKw9”
That brings us to four years of Payton saying the same thing, while the usage never really takes off.
Mims’ touch totals tell the story plainly. He had 31 touches in 2023, which came out to 1.94 per game.
In 2024, that climbed to 52, or 3.10 per game. In 2025, he finished with 49 touches and 3.27 per game.
This year, he has just 9 touches, which puts him at 1.80 per game and on pace for the lowest rate of his career.
The numbers also show why the frustration keeps circling back to him. Mims is averaging 10.2 yards per touch in his career.
According to Pro Football Reference, he also owns a 107.6 career passer rating when targeted. When he gets involved, production tends to follow, and it usually comes in big moments.
That showed up in the Divisional Round last year against the Buffalo Bills, when he caught a go-ahead touchdown pass and later drew a pass interference penalty that helped set up the Broncos’ game-winning field goal.
So the fit is obvious enough: Mims is the kind of explosive player who can change a possession in one snap. Payton has said it repeatedly, and the second-round pick Denver used on him shows the organization saw real value there. But at this point, the Broncos still need the promise to become reality.
For now, the message sounds right. The usage doesn’t.
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