Horse Tracks: Waddle making an early impact

If you want to know how much wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is bringing to the offense this year, just ask the defense.

“[He’s been] everything that he is expected to be,” said safety Talanoa Hufanga , who played against Waddle when he was with the Dolphins. “I’m super excited that he is on our side.”

“People forget that we have to go against him in practice. It’s not the easiest, but it’s also a good thing for us to practice,” Hufanga added. “Going up against the best is what we want.”

Specifically, Hufanga pointed out, it’s Waddle’s ability to disguise his route and keep the defense guessing that’s so difficult to defend.

“His ability to make every route look the same is pretty important,” Hufanga said. “I think as a defender, when you can make a 10-yard stop (route) look like a go, a 10-yard dig look like a go, out route, it makes everything look the same and puts pressure on your backpedal as a DB. For him to bring that to our team is a blessing.”

That ability will definitely make his quarterback happy. And that’s probably why Bo Nix was excited to be among the contingent that took Waddle to dinner his first night in Denver .

“Bo is definitely a competitor. He loves talking ball. He loves just being around, being around the guys,” Waddle said. “I think he’s going to be a great leader. I can just see the traits from him just day-to-day and everything. If he sees something, he’s going to tell me about it. Then we kind of pick each other’s brains and try to get on the same page as best we can.”

Although Nix is sidelined during OTAs as he fully recovers from offseason ankle surgery, Waddle is not worried about chemistry with his new quarterback.