Brandon Marshall was a fourth round pick that made people say “Who?” when drafted has turned into quite a steal for the Broncos. He now holds the NFL record for catches in a single game (21) and probably will break his own record before he is through. Maybe more than once.

There is no denying his 6’4″, 230 lbs. physique and decent speed creates horrendous match-up issues for opposing DBs.

His yards after catch average, is almost unbelievable for a wide receiver.

His ability take a routine five-yarder or a bubble screen pass and s t r e t c h  it into a 15 yard play may not have a rival in the NFL.

His one-handed grabs cause defensive coordinators to pull their hair out after a perfect defensive call and great coverage.

His ability to juke and/or turn his shoulders square and run over people, even linebackers, causes OOHs and AHHs.

He has turned into an above-average blocker and can pancake a defender when the mood moves him.

He has nine TDs and over 1,000 yards and will improve on those stats before the year is through.

He has a million watt smile and has taken in his nephew to help turn around a troubled kid’s environment.

BUT….his maturity issues still come and go.

His hand-eye coordination (i.e. completing the catch) can still improve.

He has been known to put the ball on the ground at very inopportune times.

He has been a disruptive influence in the locker room at times.

Maybe the most frustrating thing about Bmarsh is his decisions to turn all this ability on and off.

I know I know, he seems to be bringing it on a more consistent basis recently, as in the Giants, Chiefs, and Colts games.

But he also has somewhat disappeared in other games (CIN, CLE, BAL, SD) where he has had no TDs and under 50 YDS in each of those games.

He said before the Giants game, he wanted to come out and “make a statement”; and he did. But why decide to do that in one game, or three, and not ALL games. As poor as the offense has been playing, he should make that effort each and every game.

Sure, teams will key on him and try to take him out of the game plan, but they tried to do that in Indy and look what happened?

My point being that maybe Brandon has begun to mature before our very eyes the past 3-4 weeks and this will continue. For his sake and for the Broncos’ sake, I hope so.

But will he? See how Randy Moss has back-slid into a ME ME ME guy again at New England and supposedly his maturity issues were resolved. We have no need to even mention TO or Chad 85; both are lost causes.

Marshall has all the tools needed to be maybe the best WR or at least one of the top five in the history of the game. But, he will have to make that next leap and maintain his commitment, desire, effort, and leadership shown in these past few games.

A Beast or a Bust?  Time will tell.

 

 

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