Getty Image
The Denver Broncos are taking a chance on an undrafted rookie this offseason. The team signed BJ West to a deal on Monday, a wide receiver from Alabama State.
West will be unproven, with production at the college level being thin. It seems head coach Sean Payton has a plan in place to best showcase his talents.
That may not come at wideout, where he tallied just two catches for negative yardage across four seasons with the Hornets. In all, he appeared in 12 contests, doing most of his damage as a return man.
As a punt returner, he posted an 11.4-yard average with a long of 48.
On the kick team, he returned six attempts for 135 yards with a long of 30.
It would appear that his new team intends to use BJ West in a similar manner, with Payton’s emphasis on special teams being well-documented.
Just last year, the head coach referenced the unit as the best way to quickly improve your team.
“If you believe in hidden yardage, and you understand yards equal points, each play you’re fighting for those yards,” he was heard saying last offseason. “That’s an area we felt we needed to improve drastically.”
He’s continued to pursue those improvements this spring, with the latest addition offering direct evidence.
BJ West will be the lightest player in the NFL…
And one of the lightest in the league’s history!
At 5-8 and just 142 pounds, his stature will certainly pale in comparison to the massive athletes typically seen on pro football rosters.
While he won’t take the title of smallest player to ever play in the NFL (that would be 119-pound Jack “Soupy” Shapiro of the Staten Island Stapletons), he could very well hold the modern-era record.
It hasn’t been talked about much, but the Broncos signed an undrafted free agent wide receiver out of Alabama State named BJ West… who measures in at 5’8″ 142 pounds 😳
I’m trying to figure out if that would be the lightest player in the modern era.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) May 1, 2024
Light research shows Tony Jones, a wide receiver for the Oilers and Falcons between 1990-1993, also tipped the scales at 142 pounds during his playing days.
The former Texas Longhorn broke out as a rookie with 409 receiving yards and six scores but was out of the league a few years later.
West is hoping to see that same immediate impact, though potentially in a different role. With the NFL looking to bring back the impact of kick returners, now’s as good a time as ever!
We’ll see if he can find sustained success in Denver.