Pressure is a privilege in the National Football League, and Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows and understands what that feels like. As he prepares for his second season leading the Broncos, he faces three massive questions in 2024.
Will Payton and the Broncos get QB issue solved?
As the Broncos prepare to move on from Russell Wilson in March, Sean Payton finds himself in the position of having to find a solution at quarterback going forward.
Many other NFL teams are in the same exact boat, which amplifies the degree of difficulty it takes to find the solution. A lot of discourse on social media from Broncos fans is a back-and-forth debate about drafting a QB at 12, grabbing a reclamation project, or trying to restructure Wilson and bring him back.
The first two options are more realistic for where it appears the team is heading. We can debate which option is the better one for the Broncos going forward, but the reality is that Payton has to make the right decision regardless of the path he chooses to take.
On an episode of Locked On Broncos this week, my cohost Sayre Bedinger and I dove deep into the different options Payton has, but both ultimately agreed that the decision he makes needs to come with conviction.
If there is a veteran option in free agency that he is convinced about, then he should make that decision. When Denver is on the clock at pick number 12 in the NFL Draft, if a player is there that he has conviction about, he has to take him.
The risk is still the same for Payton regardless because the decision is ultimately his to make in collaboration with George Paton and Greg Penner. Winning games is the only thing that matters, and who they have under center will be an important element that influences wins and losses.
How can Payton improve as a playcaller?
The Denver Broncos offense was drastically better in 2023 than it was over the course of the last seven years, but it still wasn’t good enough. There were evident moments throughout this season that demonstrated improvement, but the consistency of Denver’s offensive operation was not there.
Toward the end of the season, Payton told us on a conference call that the offense was average to below average in many areas, which factored into the decision for him to bench Russell Wilson.
Denver’s inability to run the ball consistently was problematic, and the passing game was hit-and-miss periodically throughout the year. Courtland Sutton led the team in overall production in terms of touchdowns (10) and targets (90), followed by Jerry Jeudy, who saw 87 targets. Outside of those two players, the Broncos offense relied heavily on Javonte Williams (58) and Samaje Perine (56) out of the backfield in terms of high-volume targets.
“Overall, we collectively—starting with me—it wasn’t good enough,” Payton said regarding the offense at the end of the year press conference. “We didn’t take advantage of enough field position opportunities in games. I want to get my eyes fixed, so I call the right play and I don’t mess up and call the wrong play on a play that happened one time this year. That was embarrassing.”
While part of that was tongue in cheek, Payton has acknowledged that he has to be better as a play-caller. Could his year-long retirement after 2021 contribute to some rust? That could make sense, but ultimately it relies on him trusting himself and his coaches even more going forward.
While playcalling has to improve, Denver has to find a way to run the football effectively, or else they’ll continue to struggle offensively. Opposing teams saw success when they shut down the Bronco’s ability to run the ball, making the offense one-dimensional and further contributing to their struggles.
The pieces that Denver adds this offseason in the draft and free agency will be crucial, but they’ll also need to hope that tight end Greg Dulcich stays healthy. It seems that so much of what they could have potentially done last year from the tight-end position was all centric on Dulcich and his ability, but they never got a chance to experience that.
Will Payton roll status-quo with Denver Broncos defense?
The Denver Broncos defense got off to one of the worst starts in NFL history through the first five weeks, but their mid-season turnaround was a remarkable story.
After giving up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins in Week 3, it appeared that Denver’s reunion with Vance Joseph as their defensive coordinator would be cut short. Payton, despite being fiery and ultra-competitive, stuck with Joseph, and it proved to be a good decision.
Joseph made various personnel changes that saw Ja’Quan McMillian emerge at the nickel, P.J. Locke stepped into a starting role at safety after the league suspended Kareem Jackson, and Zach Allen, Mike Purcell, and D.J. Jones ended up starting at end, tackle, and end. The defense also moved on from veteran pass rushers Frank Clark and Randy Gregory and moved forward with Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, and Baron Browning, which proved to be a beneficial move for the defense.
Denver’s mid-season run was epic, but toward the end of the season, the defense fell off in key moments against the Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, and Detroit Lions. They struggled to stop the run for a majority of the season and found themselves carved up by Bailey Zappe, CJ Stroud, Aidan O’Connell, and a forgetful day against Jared Goff, who threw for five touchdowns and went 24-of-34 passing in a 42-17 drubbing.
If any changes were to happen, they would have already happened now from a coaching personnel standpoint. Joseph appears to be back in 2024, but how can the defense find a way to be more consistent going forward?
Player health is a big factor, but the overall lack of pressure and inability to stop the run consistently negatively impacted the defense throughout the season. Questions loom surrounding whether or not the team will re-sign P.J. Locke and Josey Jewell, who starts at CB on the outside opposite of Patrick Surtain II, or whether or not the team will revamp the defensive line.
Regardless, the defense can’t stick with just the status quo heading into 2024 and will have to continue to evolve if Denver hopes to sustain success going forward.
