The Denver Broncos moved all their chess pieces in acquiring Russell Wilson via a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. Sadly, Wilson had one of the most disappointing seasons of his entire career in 2022. A low mark on a solid NFL career right now. However, Denver did also have an inept, “in over his head” head coach who failed in nearly every aspect of being a CEO for the Broncos. This forced the team to throw their chips in again and hire a veteran, Super Bowl-winning coach and resume to back it up in Sean Payton.
Payton brings discipline, toughness, and hard-nosed coaching to a team that needs the wake-up call. Everyone will point to his impact on Wilson, but Payton’s touch on the facility will leave a lasting impact on this franchise during and after the Wilson era. In all phases of the game, Payton made a strong move to hire and keep young promising coaches on the staff in Christian Parker and Marcus Dixon. On the offensive side of the ball, he chose to convince Davis Webb to be quarterbacks coach which is a hire more people should pay attention to. The obvious veteran coach who gets attention is Vance Joseph, but Mike Westhoff will be a strong vocal presence as assistant head coach. Joseph’s return should also bode well for his confidence and others choosing to coach the team that fired him in his first coaching gig.
This nice blend of coaching experience will help the players translate their potential to the field. Make no mistake, there are plenty of position groups littered with players who are x-factors for this upcoming season. We touched early on the quarterback because that’s obvious, but from running back, wide receiver, and offensive line, there are players to choose from there. Even though the defense is a suspected strong suit there are position groups who find themselves in the x-factor territory as well.
Let’s take a deep dive into these players.