Expectations are low for Sean Payton and this Denver Broncos roster situation in Year 2 for him at the helm.
Denver scrapped Russell Wilson at QB, are eating his $85M in dead cap, and have hit the reset button.
The Broncos are in full-on rebuild mode, and national media expects yet another down year for the orange and blue.
Denver Broncos roster is worst in the NFL per Pro Football Focus
Pro Football Focus recently rated all 32 NFL teams’ rosters, and the news isn’t good for Denver. The Broncos roster isn’t just one of the worst, it is the worst in the league.
“While Bo Nix seems to be set up nicely for success, Denver’s style of offense will struggle to keep up if the defense digs them into a hole,” PFF writes. “This offense isn’t built to play from behind. Unless several members across the defense step up in a big way, the team will struggle to make much noise in what is expected to once again be a strong AFC.”
PFF says the Broncos offensive line is their biggest strength, highlighting Quinn Meinerz’s breakout 2023 campaign. Keep in mind, though, even as the O-line is a strength on the team, their starting center is still a huge question mark. That’s because Lloyd Cushenberry left in the offseason.
As for weaknesses, Pro Football Focus points to the defense as a whole, outside of Patrick Surtain of course.
“Outside of Patrick Surtain II, this defense lacks playmakers at every level,” PFF explains. “The unit was responsible for a 70-point debacle against the Dolphins in 2023 that made them the laughingstock of the league. Things improved dramatically throughout the season, as defensive coordinator Vance Joseph managed to do damage control and reorganize the defense in a more favorable manner, but there are still a lot of holes that weren’t fixed.
“While the defense shouldn’t be as bad as it was last season, don’t expect any miracles in 2024.”
Interestingly, the writers believe Denver’s defense will be improved this year, despite losing impact players like Justin Simmons and Josey Jewell, among others.
Besides that optimism, the criticism of the Broncos roster is warranted. It’s one of their worst teams put together in recent years, and that’s saying a lot considering the seven straight losing seasons.
But Payton isn’t listening to the criticism.
“I would say this has changed for me,” Payton explained last week. “It’s more inward focused relative to our team and what we’re doing. Relative to…you get older…you don’t waste calories on certain things that I might have back in ’06, [’07], [’08]. Really paying attention to your gut, your experience and what you’re seeing.”
Sportsline predicts Broncos as worst in the AFC
Continuing the skepticism of Payton’s team, Sportsline recently predicted each team’s record for 2024 in the AFC.
Unsurprisingly, the Broncos are predicted to finish in a tie for dead-last in the AFC, with a record of 6-11.
There’s a lot of reason to believe the orange and blue will have another disastrous season.
First and foremost, the Broncos roster is in shambles.
But besides that, Denver faces the 8th-toughest schedule in 2024. And, because of primetime game scheduling and more, the team has 17 days less rest than their opponents this year.
It’s always difficult when the Super Bowl champions are in your division and you have to play them twice a year. Especially when the Chiefs own the Broncos. Including Denver’s win over Kansas City last year, they’ve gone 1-16 versus the Chiefs in recent years.
And while Sportsline has Denver going 6-11, PFF put their win total at Over/Under 5.5 wins. And they took the under.
The good news is, expectations are low for the team and Bo Nix in his rookie campaign. On top of that, Payton has surrounded him with a solid receiving corps, including veterans like Courtland Sutton and Josh Reynolds.
When a team is in dire straights like Denver, it’s going to be a long process back to competitiveness. 2024 is a year Nix will get his footing in the NFL, and if things go well, prove he’s the future of the franchise at quarterback.