There are going to be plenty of strong candidates around the league for NFL Coach of the Year after the 2024 season we all just witnessed. Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings is probably the front-runner after taking Sam Darnold and his team to 14 regular season wins. But other than O'Connell, who has done more with less than Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton?
Especially if you're grading on the curve of what people's expectations were of this Broncos team going into the season, Payton should be the runaway winner of the award.
But let's put any Denver Broncos bias aside for the moment. Payton has made an exceptionally strong case for the award this year and maybe some of the most obvious metrics that could lead to him getting a lot of votes for the award.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton has earned NFL Coach of the Year consideration
The Denver Broncos went into the 2024 season expected by almost all betting outlets to win five or six games. Most of the talking heads in the NFL media world or just the sports media world, in general, had the Broncos winning less.
Payton surpassed expectations and led this Broncos team to 10 wins and a playoff berth in 2024, but sometimes it's not enough "just" to win in the NFL. In order to get awards, you've got to have style points to go along with it. Let's take a look at some of the big reasons beyond just winning and ending the Broncos' nine-year playoff drought that Payton should be winning NFL Coach of the Year.
He's done all of this despite having the 3rd-youngest roster in the NFL. The Broncos are using the "young and hungry" mantra to their advantage at this point, but there's no doubt that having a young roster can be detrimental if you aren't well-coached. The Broncos not only won 10 games with one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, but they won nine of those 10 games by nine or more points.
And the Broncos did all of this with not only one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, but they basically did it with one arm tied behind their back and hopping on one leg when it comes to the NFL salary cap. The Broncos assembled the 10th-best scoring offense in the NFL and the 3rd-best scoring defense in the NFL despite ranking 1st in the NFL with more than $89 million in dead cap money.
It was laughable to think the Broncos could put together a playoff-caliber team in 2024 given their dead cap issues, their inability to be overly active in NFL free agency, and the fact that they have been so limited on NFL Draft capital since the Russell Wilson trade. This team has a grand total of three first-round picks in the starting lineup this season: LT Garett Bolles, QB Bo Nix, and CB Pat Surtain II.
Furthermore, the Broncos ranked in the top third or top half of the NFL in a handful of other major categories:
- Third down offense: 13th
- Third down defense: 11th
- Red zone offense: 7th (!!!)
- Red zone defense: 3rd
Once again, we must keep in mind that Sean Payton and his staff did this with a rookie quarterback under center, replacing the veteran Russell Wilson who accounted for $53 million of that $89 million plus in dead salary cap. The Broncos were also on the hook for nearly $38 million in cash toward Russell Wilson this year, a bitter pill that is made a bit easier to swallow given the team's current status as a playoff squad.
And speaking of that rookie quarterback, Payton was given scathing reviews by many in the NFL media world for taking Bo Nix in the 1st round at all, much less at 12th overall. And then to be happy about it afterward? Paton was getting laughed at daily by the talking heads.
Bo Nix has been described as a checkdown merchant, a "cosplaying" quarterback when working from the pocket, the biggest reach of the draft, too old, already reached his ceiling, and plenty more if you look through the archives. Despite all of the negativity around Nix and Payton's infatuation with him, Nix was able to put together a historic rookie season in which he became one of just two rookie quarterbacks ever to lead his team to 10 wins, account for 30-plus TDs, and rack up over 4,000 total yards of offense.
The only other rookie QB to ever do it is his classmate, Jayden Daniels.
It would be absolute madness if Payton doesn't receive consideration for NFL Coach of the Year. These are just a handful of the obvious qualifications for the award but there are plenty more within.