For a long stretch of the 2023 season, the Denver Broncos had one of the better defenses in the league. After starting the season 1-5 with one of the worst starts in franchise history defensively, Vance Joseph's unit turned things up and, at one point, was the third-best team in the NFL in points allowed over an 8-week stretch. That stretch also included an obscene amount of turnovers, and the Broncos' defensive turnaround helped get this team back in the playoff discussion.
There is undoubtedly some tension over where the Broncos will go from here when it comes to sticking with Vance Joseph and buying the team's highs in 2023, or whether Sean Payton will look at the whole of the season and be left with a bad taste in his mouth.
Considering I don't think Joseph was Payton's first choice in the first place, I wouldn't be shocked if he move on. But for who?
1. Christian Parker, DBs coach, Broncos
One interesting candidate would be in-house candidate Christian Parker. You could argue over the last handful of seasons that no coach has done a better job with player development than Christian Parker. The question at this point is -- is he in the right lane at this point? Does he have defensive play-caller in his future?
It will be fascinating to see what happens with this ascending coach. Sean Payton clearly thinks a lot of him for him to be kept on as one of only two holdovers from the previous regime. There could be some consideration here if Payton wants to go with a young option and someone who could have huge upside in the coaching world.
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