The Denver Broncos have slowly begun to assemble their coaching staff under new head coach Sean Payton, all the whle many other coaches from the previous regime have been walking out the door. The latest to leave the Broncos is longtime wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni, who has left for the New York Jets, according to 9News insider Mike Klis.
Azzanni is reunited in New York with former Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who has taken over for Robert Saleh as his team's new offensive coordinator. The Jets spent the weekend hosting free agent quarterback Derek Carr for a visit, and it seems like things are shaping up for that team to have a pretty massive offensive resurgence in 2023.
While he was in Denver -- from 2018-2022 -- Zach Azzanni was tasked with overseeing a group that included team legends Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders while also breaking in young talent like Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, and KJ Hamler. It was no small task for Azzanni, who didn't get to coach the likes of Thomas and Sanders very long. The Broncos traded the late, great Thomas in 2018 and Sanders in 2019.
From that moment on, it was a blank slate for Azzanni with that receiver group. Under his watch, Courtland Sutton made the Pro Bowl in 2019, Tim Patrick developed from a practice squad player to a big-money contract player, Jerry Jeudy has become the team's best offensive weapon, and unheralded players like Kendall Hinton have emerged. Just to name a few.
With Azzanni off to greener pastures, the Broncos have some big shoes to fill at that WR coach spot, but they could also see a number of players follow Azzanni to the Jets. Currently, the Broncos don't have any picks in the first two rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft, but could that change with perhaps a deal or two in New York?