The Denver Broncos have their next head coach after trading for Sean Payton earlier in the week. How might Payton’s arrival in Denver impact Russell Wilson and the Broncos’ offense?
How Denver Broncos hire of Sean Payton impacts Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson’s 2022 campaign with the Denver Broncos was not what he or the front office expected from the former all-pro quarterback. While Wilson’s tenure with former head coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t work out, new head coach Sean Payton will play a massive role in helping turn things around for Wilson and the Broncos’ offense.
Payton’s arrival in Denver means several things for the organization and for the quarterback position. Drew Brees, one former quarterback who played for Payton in New Orleans believes that Wilson will benefit tremendously from the hire. In an interview with ESPN’s Ed Werder, Brees shared his thoughts on the Broncos’ hire.
“To me, this is set up to be Russell Wilson’s prime, especially with Sean Payton and a system that’s going to be built around him,” Brees said in his interview with Werder. “This is a great opportunity for Russell Wilson.” Where Denver struggled last year was building a system around Wilson’s strengths, which contributed to his and the offense’s struggles in general.
The outside zone scheme that Hackett attempted to implement in training camp — completely fell to the wayside following Javonte William’s injury in Week 4. Without having a clearly established identity on the offensive side of the ball, the Broncos never found consistency with some of the things they tried to implement after Week 5.
During the season, Payton shared his thoughts on how he would try to get Wilson and the Broncos’ offense going if he were the coach.
“You correct flaws immediately,” Payton said in an interview with Colin Cowherd in September. “We don’t worry about how long the process is going to take, in other words, I’d want to cut up all of Russell’s pass plays of thirty or more yards from the field — I’d want to see are there some schemes that he felt very comfortable with. They did a great job in Seattle of bringing him off the naked boot and then pulling up. We all saw that throwback to [Tyler] Lockett across the field where the ball traveled sixty yards through the air. Then I’d want to look at another film of his red zone touchdown passes inside the 20 — what I’m asking for from assistants [coaching] is some of his [Wilson’s] greatest hits and to make sure that we have those song lyrics available and if not — let’s put them in.”
The Broncos have various needs to address on the offensive side of the ball with Payton taking over going forward. Next up, how might Denver approach their off-season needs in free agency and the NFL Draft?
