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Last year around this time Russell Wilson went viral for the reason he always goes viral, doing something cringier than your drunk single 50-year-old uncle at a wedding reception. Fully dressed in his Broncos regalia, Wilson stared directly into the camera and said, “Broncos County, let’s ride” on multiple takes, each worse than the last.
Was this worse than his post coitus with Ciara wedding night post? Of course not. Nothing will ever be worse than that, but it became emblematic of the historic faceplant Wilson made in his first season with Denver, one of the NFL’s crown jewel franchises.
Wilson, it’s important to know, wasn’t the Broncos’ first choice, but they were still pretty happy to get him. They actually wanted Aaron Rodgers, who himself had a pretty dismal season in 2022, so, sorry Denver fans. This was going to be a disaster regardless.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired, Wilson sputtered and had the worst season of his life. Denver was the laughingstock of the league and, for the second consecutive season, started selling off pieces at the trade deadline.
After a 2-1 start, the Broncos fell apart as it was obvious that Hackett didn’t have the chops to be an NFL head coach and Wilson didn’t have the internal discipline not to go full diva without a Pete Carroll type to keep him in check.
Still, there were some bright spots. Three of Denver’s five wins came against playoff teams — the San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Chargers.
Wilson started 15 games, going 4-11 and completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,524 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Latavius Murray led the team with 703 rushing yards and five touchd owns. Jerry Jeudy caught 67 passes for 972 yards and six scores. Dre’Mont Jones finished with 6.5 sacks to go with 47 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and a forced fumble. Alex Singleton had 163 tackles, six tackles for a loss, three passes defended and a forced fumble. Justin Simmons picked off six passes, recorded seven passes defended, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, 69 tackles and two tackles for a loss.
DENVER BRONCOS
2022-23 Record: 5-12
Playoffs: N/A
2023 AFC Championship Odds: +2500
NOW WHAT?
After tossing Hackett off the stagecoach due to a 4-11 start, the Broncos got an early jump on the NFL head coaching sweepstakes and used that time to lure former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton out from the NBC Sunday Night Football analyst desk and back onto the sideline. With the Walton family owning the team, a large cartoonish bag of money was delivered to Payton that he made no real effort to resist. Frankly, this was a done deal the second Sean McVay decided to remain with the Los Angeles Rams and halt all that ridiculous “retirement” talk. Not that McVay would have ended up in Denver somehow, but Stan Kroenke would have opened up the checkbook to bring Payton to LA to replace his young savant head coach.
Payton made no secret that he likes Wilson and wants to keep him, while at the same time shutting down all the silliness (and extra hangers-on) Wilson brought into the team facility. Payton’s no dummy. This is a good team with plenty of good players still on the roster, especially on offense. Plus, they have new ownership with literal money to burn.
Flipping through their schedule, I could see this team making a 3-1 start with wins over the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears. It gets significantly tougher after that. They could go anywhere from 8-9 to 10-7.
THE DRAFT
With no first round pick, the Broncos did pretty well in the draft, earning a B+ grade from me. If you’re a regular reader, especially of my draft coverage, then you know that the goals of any team should be to land players capable of starting on Day One in Rounds 1-3. With their pick in the second round, they grabbed wide receiver Marvin Mims, Jr. out of Clemson and then linebacker Drew Sanders from Arkansas in Round 3. While Denver is already loaded at wide receiver, contracts could be an issue, especially if the offense blows up this season. Jerry Jeudy is probably the only untouchable receiver, so Mims’ presence allows the team to let Courtland Sutton or Tim Patrick walk if they need to. Sanders was my favorite linebacker in the draft and has so many Micah Parsons-like qualities, I’m still shocked he lasted until the end of Day Two.
FREE AGENCY
Even after selling off some key pieces over the past few seasons, the Broncos didn’t have a ton of holes entering the offseason. Still, Payton knew what he wanted and immediately upgraded the offensive line by adding tackle Mike McGlinchey from the 49ers, guard Ben Powers from the Baltimore Ravens and center Kyle Fuller from the Seattle Seahawks. At the skill positions, he brought in running backs Tony Jones from the Seahawks, Michael Burton from the Kansas City Chiefs and Samaje Perine from the Cincinnati Bengals. The Broncos added the perfectly named Chris Manhertz from the Jaguars at tight end and wide receiver Marquez Callaway from the New Orleans Saints. On defense, they brought in cornerback Tremon Smith from the Houston Texans, defensive end Zach Allen from the Arizona Cardinals and edge rusher Frank Clark from the Chiefs. Riley Dixon joins the team at punter from the Rams.
AFC WEST
While the AFC, as a whole, is easily the best and toughest conference, the AFC West is in the running with the AFC North as its best division. Do I think all four of these teams will make the playoffs this year? No. In fact, if the Las Vegas Raiders don’t, there’s a good chance that Josh McDaniels will be unemployed. I do think Denver will make a run and be alive right down until the end. The math for the Broncos making it as one of the seven playoff teams just might not be there.
Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.
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