Adam Schein of NFL.com recently put together a pecking order of teams looking to end long playoff droughts and the likelihood in which that will happen this season. Here are the teams facing the longest current droughts in the league.
New York Jets (12 seasons)
Denver Broncos (7 seasons)
Detroit Lions (6 seasons)
Atlanta Falcons (5 seasons)
Carolina Panthers (5 seasons)
Only the Jets have a longer running drought than the Broncos and Schein actually has those Jets at No. 1 on his list meaning they are the team, from this list, most likely to end their playoff drought in his mind.
The Jets did add Aaron Rodgers this offseason but is that enough to get them playing past Week 18? Rodgers is a great player and one of the best quarterbacks in history, but he will also be 39 years old and trying to create some cohesiveness with a brand new team.
Ask Russell Wilson how that worked out last year.
Speaking of Wilson, Schein lists him as one of the reasons why he has the Broncos all the way at No. 4 on his list. Only the Panthers, who are starting over with a new head coach and a rookie quarterback, have a worse chance in his eyes.
Schein says that there is a "realistic chance" that Wilson is cooked but that if anyone can turn him around, it's Sean Payton. That makes the Broncos a true unknown heading into this season as so many questions surround the most important position on the field.
That could be why he has the Broncos so low.
The Detroit Lions are at No. 2 and after the way they finished last season, combined with playing in a far-less stacked conference, the Lions are going to be a trendy pick this year. So that argument can be made.
Stating that the Atlanta Falcons, with Desmond Ridder as their quarterback, have a better chance to end their playoff drought than the Broncos seems a tad ridiculous. But, it is the NFC.
The Broncos do play in a loaded AFC conference and a tough division. It will be difficult to be one of the top seven teams in the playoff chase, but it seems that if everyone is viewing this team through the same lens that Schein is using, they could all be in for a big surprise.