Broncos' Jaylen Waddle finally had reason to dance vs. Chiefs. Is a breakthrough next?

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The signature dance was a long time coming.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Jaylen Waddle caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Bo Nix on a fourth-and-goal play late in the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and unleashed the penguin-like waddle he popularized during his five seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

"A couple plays before, Jaylen was asking for it," Nix said of the scoring play. "He was calling for it. That's when you know you're in a good spot is when you're in tune with the coach and know what he's about to call."

It was a celebratory shuffle Broncos fans -- some of them mimicking the move inside rowdy Empower Field at Mile High -- expected to see often when the team in March traded three draft picks, including a first-rounder, to acquire the dynamic playmaker.

Yet the dance Sunday night, near the season's midpoint, was the first of its kind from Waddle as a member of the Broncos. There hadn't been many other marquee moments to celebrate.

Coach Sean Payton believes that could change as the Broncos begin the back half of the season Sunday on the road against the Carolina Panthers, the team Waddle faced when he unveiled his namesake dance to an NFL audience as a rookie with the Dolphins in 2021.

"Let's keep going," Payton said when asked about Waddle after Sunday's game, in which the receiver also caught a two-point conversion pass after Denver's first touchdown of the fourth quarter. "It's something that's going to be important for us. He's dynamic, he's quick. We're going to need his plays down the stretch."

Waddle's overall output this season -- 29 catches, 315 yards -- ranks among his lowest through eight games, as he had similar numbers in that span in 2024. His yards per reception (10.9) are the lowest at this point since his rookie season.

After his breakout performance against the Jaguars in Week 2 (138 yards), Waddle did not have more than 35 yards receiving in any of the next four games. Those were four of the nine lowest receiving-yard games of his career. That stretch included moments of demonstrable frustration, such as during Denver's Week 5 win against the Los Angeles Chargers, when he caught two passes for 19 yards, Waddle shaking his head as he walked off the field after a three-and-out series.

The past two games, though, have had signs that the Broncos are finding more ways to get Waddle involved. The fourth-down touchdown and two-point conversion Sunday were pivotal moments in a game the Broncos won by 4 points. That came after the Week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals in which Waddle had four catches for 48 yards -- his second-highest output of the season -- despite dealing with and then aggravating a chest injury.

"One thing we've been doing a great job of is moving him around and finding space for him to utilize and find mismatches," cornerback Pat Surtain II said of Waddle, who has caught two red-zone touchdowns and converted a pair of two-point conversions with turn-on-a-dime routes. "That's what makes it so tough covering a guy like that in the red zone. It's so condensed, the route tree is more horizontal, and him finding that space and working that connection with Bo is cool to see."

There is plenty of context behind Waddle's slow statistical start to the season. For starters, each of Denver's wide receivers has seen a year-over-year dip in numbers nearly halfway through this season. Courtland Sutton (20 catches, 221 yards) is off to the slowest start of his nine-year NFL career. The same is true for third-year player Troy Franklin (six catches, 69 yards), and Marvin Mims Jr. (nine catches, 92 yards) is well off his pace from last season -- though the latter did miss two games because of injury.

The Broncos average 9.82 air yards per attempt when targeting wide receivers, according to TruMedia, which ranks No. 29 in the NFL. Even with Waddle in the lineup, Denver is pushing the ball downfield at a lower rate than at any other point during Nix's three seasons. That is partly because the Broncos are seeing even more zone-heavy coverage looks than last season and have largely been unable to run teams out of those looks.

Also, the time Waddle and Nix had to build on-field chemistry was limited by the quarterback's recovery from ankle surgery that kept him out of OTAs. Waddle also had a roughly two-week absence during training camp with a soft-tissue injury. So he is still learning a new quarterback -- Nix couldn't be much more stylistically different from Waddle's QB in Miami, Tua Tagovailoa -- while digesting a new, complex offense. That comes with a steep learning curve Waddle is still navigating.

"Jaylen's been busting his butt since training camp," Sutton said. "He's been putting himself in position to allow himself and Bo a chance to jell as well as they possibly can. Our offense has been working to get into a place of efficiency. … We're trending in the direction of becoming a more efficient and consistent offense."

The underlying numbers -- and the accompanying film -- show Waddle has remained a dynamic route runner. He's averaging 3.6 yards of separation per route, according to Next Gen Stats, tied for the ninth-largest amount of space created among NFL wide receivers this season.

His 35-yard reception early in the second quarter Sunday, when he burned up the seam and found space among three defenders in Kansas City's zone, was a reminder of the vertical element he can bring to an offense that has started to look for those shots more frequently the past couple of weeks.

"Whatever defense you're in, when he's on the grass, you've got to be aware of how they're trying to utilize him based on the personnel," Panthers coach Dave Canales said this week. "Heavy 11-personnel team, but they will throw him out there in 12 (personnel). They have 21, 22, 13 (personnels). It's a very diverse offense, but you try to study formations, you try to study where he's at in specific formations and how we can deploy multiple people to how they're trying to use him."

Canales' latter point is another important one when evaluating Waddle's impact. Take arguably the Denver offense's biggest play Sunday: running back Jonah Coleman's 51-yard catch-and-run play in the fourth quarter, which set up the Broncos' go-ahead touchdown.

Waddle was lined up far outside near the right sideline and ran a go route that quickly pressured the deep safety. That player, Alohi Gilman, recognized the underneath pass to Coleman, but he had so much ground to close after retreating to help with Waddle that Denver's running back had ample room, with the help of a block by Franklin, to cut back inside and rip the play wide open.

Those are hallmarks of a dangerous player who will have more reasons in the second half of the season, the Broncos believe, to do the celebratory waddle.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.