Payton: Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin has Asked for an 'Expanded Role'

Taking a broad, retrospective look at how Sean Payton's first year as head coach of the Denver Broncos has shaken out might frustrate some fans. That will inescapably be tied to how Payton's relationship with quarterback Russell Wilson floundered greatly before ultimately running aground.

Those who expected Payton to pick diamonds out of the rough to make the Broncos' offense finally shift out of neutral have been left disappointed. However, the coach's grand plan to remake the team in his image is beginning to coalesce, but it's clear that the process he embarked upon has turned out to be much more incremental than Broncos Country had perhaps at first envisioned.

That's not to say that Payton has come up completely empty-handed in his search for more dynamic playmakers this season, as rookies like running back Jaleel McLaughlin and wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. have flashed vast potential at times. 

In the case of McLaughlin, Payton's potential 'Joker' difference-maker, it has taken the coach a bit longer than he expected to fully shape the undrafted rookie into a sharp tool. That has led to the 23-year-old knocking on his head coach's door to ask Payton to place more trust in his hands as a receiver.

"Our vision continues to grow a little bit because he continues to earn additional touches," Payton said of McLaughlin on Monday. "The thing he and I spent a lot of time on, and his coach does a great job at it. Periodically, he'll come up, and he wants to expand his role as a receiver in that, if you will, 'Joker' category. He's certainly eager."

McLaughlin was tasked with primarily running the ball in college, like many prolific collegiate rushers, so rounding out his receiving and pass protection skills takes time. Javonte Williams has looked a bit diminished in recent weeks, and his yards-per-carry average has plummeted to only three yards a pop, which means that there's no better time for Denver to increase McLaughlin's touch share and give him a confidence boost he can parlay into the 2024 campaign.

Taking a cup-half-full view is crucial at the moment as it relates to McLaughlin's career trajectory. The Broncos' overriding hope is that Payton can build on McLaughlin's rookie body of work and eventually fully incorporate him into a future offense that is much more productive.

The positive signs are there for all to see, and over the last two weeks, McLaughlin has touched the ball 21 times while amassing 129 total yards from scrimmage.

The key intangibles Payton has identified in McLaughlin's skill set will be the most important building block to the Broncos fleshing out the running back's ability to fill the 'Joker' role.

Payton's 'Joker' in New Orleans was the prolific dual-threat Alvin Kamara, but hoping that somehow McLaughlin can morph into the Saints All-Pro without some serious seasoning would be misguided. Still, Payton feels McLaughlin possesses the same kind of ability to naturally make defenders miss while mitigating the type of big hits that often slow down explosive rushers. 

"There's a unique—not physicality, but I would say physicality and a unique, hard-to-hit trait he has," Payton said of McLaughlin. "You don't see him take hard hits. He's very sudden, and he's earned those touches."

The Broncos' season-closing tilt at the Las Vegas Raiders might provide McLaughlin with his heaviest workload this season, and it could whet Payton's appetite for what's to come.

McLaughlin's well-documented history of being a first-in/last-out-of-the-building type of guy has put him on the right foot in his quest to become the 'Joker' in Payton's future offense.