The vibes with the Denver Broncos through five games would have you believing this team is 2-3 or 1-4, but somehow, this team is 3-2 and has a chance to finish up this six-game stretch with a 4-2 record.
The Broncos have played some sloppy football thus far, especially on offense, but I guess it should be expected given how tough the schedule has been up to this point, as even the Los Angeles Chargers defense has played well the past few weeks despite their 0-5 record.
Anyway, the Broncos have a plethora to improve on in the coming weeks, and it's clear that these three players have their best football ahead of them in 2026.
A trio of Denver Broncos offensive players have their best football ahead of them in 2026
Bo Nix, QB
Bo Nix's play has come under fire by many this season. A lot of what we see from the national folks is something as simple as 'Bo Nix has to play better!'
And while they're not necessarily wrong, it's much more nuanced than that. The team has not been able to establish the run, and seem to have regressed along the offensive line. All of Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, and Mike McGlinchey have been iffy this year, and the Broncos are still also dealing with drops and drive-killing penalties.
The offense's underperformance isn't just because of Nix, but you've been led to believe that. Now, yes, he does need to play better, and he has played at a high level before. It's almost worth wondering if this is going to come regardless - Nix did miss much of the on-field offseason work with his ankle recovery, so it's logical to think that getting more in-game reps will help him play more efficiently.
Furthermore, the schedule does soften up after Week 6, so getting some easier opponents should also be a big help as well. We also saw this to an extent last year, as Nix was playing his best football in the second half of the season.
The third-year quarterback knows how to play this position and is going to heat up as the season progresses.
Jaylen Waddle, WR
Jaylen Waddle's usage this year is just odd. Outside of his 138-yard performance against Jacksonville a few weeks ago, Waddle has been held under 40 yards in the other four games. One would think that Sean Payton would eventually figure out that force-feeding someone like Waddle the ball can yield some nice results.
We saw that against the Jaguars, and I don't see why this can't happen again. The offense as a whole is clearly still a work in progress, but, similar to thinking Nix will play better, the schedule softening up, and Waddle having more time in this offense could eventually lead to a higher output from the veteran receiver.
And he's capable of it - he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in three of his five complete NFL seasons and is widely regarded as one of the most explosive offensive players in the league.
J.K. Dobbins, RB
As disappointing as it might sound, J.K. Dobbins' 68-yard, one-touchdown performance against Los Angeles in Week 5 was the best game of his season thus far. His 3.8 yards per carry was also the second-highest of the season. Dobbins has not had a game over 4.5 yards per carry, but he has also rushed for at least 36 yards in each game this year, and he's rushed for 68, 40, and 49 yards across the last three games.
In the 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2025 seasons, Dobbins averaged at least 5.0 yards per carry. When he's on the field, he produces. In fact, his 17-game average still works out to be 1,063 yards and nine touchdowns.
Dobbins is also still just 27 years old, so it's not like this is a player who is way over the hill, right?
While Dobbins' injury history is a bit frustrating, he's still a good player and knows how to play the running back position. His vision between the tackles has always been a superpower of his, and it could only be a matter of time before we see Dobbins begin to string together some more consistent performances.
His mini-breakout in Week 5 could hopefully kickstart this.
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