It has been 10 years since the Peyton Manning era began with the Denver Broncos.
The 2022 season will mark the first of a new era in Denver as well as Russell Wilson will take over as the team’s new starting quarterback. Broncos fans have not been this excited since the Manning days as the team’s struggles since PFM’s retirement have been well chronicled.
Wilson joins the team in one of the biggest trades the league has ever seen and will now be the centerpiece of what the organization hopes is a return to glory for the proud franchise.
With that being said, there are actually quite a few similarities between the first season that Peyton Manning was in Denver and what will be Wilson’s first year under center.
Of course, the circumstances are also quite different. When Manning came to Denver, it was after being cut by the Indianapolis Colts after he had neck surgery that caused him to miss an entire season.
There were questions over what he could still do on the field, but the Broncos convinced him to come aboard as a free agent. It worked out pretty well.
Wilson is still in the prime of his career but he will be tasked with the same thing that Manning was – turning the Denver Broncos around.
Let’s look at some of the similarities between these two quarterbacks coming to Denver, starting with their time with their original teams.
Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson had similar Super Bowl success
Before coming to the Broncos, Manning played in two Super Bowls with the Colts. He helped guide Indy to a win in his first trip to the big game over the Chicago Bears. Just three years later, he was back in the Super Bowl but this time, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints got the best of him.
Wilson had a similar Super Bowl path with the Seattle Seahawks. In fact, in Super Bowl XLVIII, he helped the Seahawks to a dominating win over the Broncos. Manning was the Broncos’ quarterback in that 43-8 drubbing.
The following season, Wilson was playing in the Super Bowl again but this time, Malcolm Butler of the New England Patriots made one of the most memorable plays in NFL history, intercepting Wilson in the end zone toward the end of the game to preserve a Pats win.
Before coming to Denver, Manning and Wilson each went one up, one down in the Super Bowl.
Broncos’ lack of success precipitated moves at QB
The Broncos are the only team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl and then miss the playoffs in each of the next six seasons. But that has been the case since the team won Super Bowl 50 back in 2015.
Before Manning came to Denver, the Broncos were an 8-8 division winner that suffered a 35-point defeat in the playoffs the season before. Prior to that, the team had missed the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, mostly because they couldn’t get consistent quarterback play.
Since the team’s first playoff berth in 1977, the two longest playoff droughts the team has seen are the ones right before Manning (2006-2010) and their current drought ahead of the trade for Wilson.
Manning won the AFC West division in each of his four seasons with the Broncos and took the team to at least the divisional round of the playoffs each year while also getting the team to the Super Bowl twice.
If the decision to bring Wilson aboard nets similar results, it’s hard to argue with that based on what the team has been through since that last Super Bowl victory.
Demaryius Thomas and Jerry Jeudy
The Broncos used a first-round pick on Demaryius Thomas in 2010 and the team was excited about him. He went on to be one of the greatest Broncos receivers of all time, but his career certainly didn’t begin that way.
In his first two seasons, Thomas had just 54 catches in 21 games. Though he flashed signs of greatness, it was clear that the team’s quarterback situation would hinder him and hold him back.
When Manning was signed, the idea of him making Thomas a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver was among the more exciting aspects of No. 18 putting on orange and blue. And, that’s exactly what happened.
From 2012-15 with Manning, Thomas was as good as any receiver in football. In those four seasons alone, he put up ridiculous numbers, catching 402 passes for 5,787 yards and 41 touchdowns.
The Broncos can only hope the same becomes true for Jerry Jeudy, another first-round pick who has posted paltry numbers in each of his first two seasons. Poor quarterback play is usually the excuse given for that and with Wilson, his production will be expected to increase.
Emphasis on the starting QB
The Broncos have Wilson and what many would consider two pretty average guys behind him on the depth chart in Josh Johnson and Brett Rypien. Johnson will be playing for his 14th NFL team while Rypien has spent most of his career on the team’s practice squad.
In 2012, following the signing of Manning, the Broncos also signed veteran and former Colorado State quarterback Caleb Hanie. They then used a second-round pick in the draft that year to select Brock Osweiler.
The Broncos were so confident in what Manning would be able to do and his availability that they only had a formerly undrafted guy and a raw rookie behind him.
The 2022 Broncos seem to have the same level of confidence in Wilson.
Furthermore, in each case, the team moved on from a once highly-drafted quarterback via trade when the new quarterback came into town. In 2012, the Broncos moved on from former first-round pick, Tim Tebow, trading him to the New York Jets.
This year, as part of the package to acquire Wilson, the Broncos sent former second-round pick Drew Lock to the Seahawks.
Expectations will be sky high
The Broncos didn’t sign Manning to a 5-year, $96 million to just make the playoffs. That was John Elway’s way of saying the Broncos are back and they are going to contend as fans have always seen them contend.
And that team did.
Just like now, the team didn’t trade away two first-round picks, two second-round picks, Lock, Noah Fant and Shelby Harris just to end their six-year playoff drought. This is a “Super Bowl or bust” move.
And the front office is going to want to see results quickly, even if the AFC West is absolutely stacked. Wilson is a guy that would be expected to move the needle wherever he went and should still be considered one of the five best quarterbacks in the league.
It may be unrealistic to expect to win the Super Bowl this season (Manning didn’t even get there in 2012) but within three years, the Broncos will be expected to be a team that hoists the Lombardi Trophy.
There is a rookie head coach in place and a new offensive system is being installed. It will take some time to create some cohesiveness so a certain level of patience will be required.
But as a proud franchise, just making the playoffs is not good enough for Denver. This trade was made to put the Broncos back in the big game and Wilson is going to have to do that in order for this to be a good move for the team.