ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- He is the guy his teammates call “Sunshine" because of his long blond hair, a guy former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning predicted last season was a good bet to make the Broncos roster this season.
But Broncos wide receiver Jordan Taylor brought the crowd at the team’s second training camp practice to its feet Thursday with a did-you-see-that, one-handed grab in one-on-one drills that was straight out of the Odell Beckham Jr. school of one-handed grabs.
“I saw it like 75 yards away, so you know it was something special," said Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, after Friday's practice. “... Jordan’s an interesting kid, seems like the harder things get, the longer we practice and those type of things, he keeps going."
Taylor, running up the right sideline against second-year cornerback Taurean Nixon, leaped and with his right hand, snagged a Mark Sanchez pass and then quickly tucked the ball away before somersaulting to finish the play.
The crowd at the practice erupted, as did Taylor’s teammates.
“Honestly I just threw my hand up and thank God for these gloves, it stuck in there," Taylor said.
Taylor, who spent his rookie season with the Broncos on the practice squad in 2015, made several impact plays early in training camp last summer, but couldn’t hold the momentum and was released among the final roster cuts.
But on the practice squad, he was one of the players who worked with Manning when Manning was going through private throwing sessions to recover from a foot injury. After Manning returned to the lineup in the regular-season finale last year, Manning routinely said he expected Taylor to make a push for a roster spot in the 2016 season.
“Working with Peyton last year was priceless," Taylor said. “The things he taught me during his rehab is stuff that I’ll take the rest of my career and definitely in this camp.”