Broncos power rankings round-up: People already counting Denver out?
For whatever reason, the NFL landscape is largely extremely low on the 2024 Denver Broncos, and that is evidenced in various power rankings. You just have to wonder if some of these outlets are following the correct Broncos team, as a brief look does not bode well for Denver in these rankings, but to me, they're all flat-out wrong.
Fox Sports power ranks the Broncos at 31st entering the preseason action:
"Maybe Sean Payton really does know something we don't, and maybe he'll be serving us all a big helping of humble pie in 2024. It's just hard to believe this quarterback room of Bo Nix, Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham is going to help the Broncos make real noise in the loaded AFC."
- David Helman
I guess if people are simply stuck on the Broncos drafting Bo Nix, and them being low on Nix, I can only kind of see why they would be ranked this low, but this is also a team that won eight games last year and got better on both sides of the ball, so the logic here from David Helman does not hold up, in my opinion.
Yahoo Sports is also just as low on the Denver Broncos, as they come in at 30th in their power rankings:
"The Broncos' quarterback rotation seems to have Zach Wilson as the No. 3 and Jarrett Stidham and Bo Nix battling for the No. 1 spot. Stidham is more likely to look better in training camp, but there's no good reason to not start 24 year old Nix and his NCAA-record 61 starts in Week 1. We'll see what Sean Payton does."
- Frank Schwab
To me, while the QB does make or break the team for the most part, it feels wholly unfair to rank the Denver Broncos this low based on the QB room, as that's what it's seemed like from Fox and Yahoo. What about the improved defensive line? How about the added players on offense in Josh Reynolds, Troy Franklin, and Audric Estime?
There's no mention of Denver still projected to field a strong offensive line, and hardly a mention of the team being respectable because of their elite head coach. It's just weird.
Well, NFL.com is also getting in on the fun, but the logic here from Neil Reynolds might be the worst of them all:
"I wonder if Sean Payton knew how tough the sledding would be when he returned to the NFL?
- Neil Reynolds
Denver are clearly in rebuild mode after trading away receiver Jerry Jeudy and releasing safety Justin Simmons. The new project will rely on quick growth from rookie quarterback Bo Nix."
Huh?
The Broncos are clearly rebuilding after trading a bust wide receiver and cutting an aging safety? Where is the logic in that? What exactly does that even mean? Yeah, I just can't at all get on board with NFL.com's power rankings. The Broncos are ranked 30th in this one. Sure, if you have legitimate reasons why you think the Broncos are going to be among the two or three worst teams in football, that's fair.
But when your reasoning makes little to no sense, then that's where you've lost me. I also don't understand the "how tough the sledding would be" regarding Sean Payton. Sure, it's a tough job to coach in the NFL, but what exactly about the Broncos from the last year and a half would indicate that it's been tough sledding for Payton?
I mean, this 2022 Broncos team was a flat-out embarrassment, and Payton totally changed the culture in year one and had this team in the playoff mix. He also quickly tore off the Band-Aid with Russell Wilson, and reset with a QB in Bo Nix who the front office had very high on their own boards.