The Denver Broncos offense was difficult to watch last season on a weekly basis. Based on how last season went, here are three players that Broncos fans shouldn’t write off going into 2023 despite how last season went.

If Russell Wilson bounces back, the Denver Broncos will be hard to beat

Russell Wilson is quite arguably the top player on this list based on how last season went. Mile High expectations surrounded him after being traded to the Denver Broncos last March and he and the offense failed to meet them.

Nobody saw it coming that Wilson would struggle inside of Nathaniel Hackett’s offense the way that he did, but it happened — however, it wasn’t 100% his fault. Hackett’s offense failed to devise a game plan that put players into positions to succeed consistently last season, which led to more of the same in terms of production.

Wilson finished with a career-low 16 touchdown passes while throwing 11 interceptions.

Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t write off Russell Wilson.

Throughout his career, he’s been one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, being selected to nine Pro Bowls out of his 11 seasons in the league. As a starter, he’s had one of the best overall records as a starting quarterback in the last decade with the past two seasons being the only years he has had a losing record.

There were various points throughout last season where we all saw flashes of who Wilson previously was, which makes it difficult to believe the narrative that he’s fallen off and can’t get back to who he used to be.

Now add in the addition of Sean Payton and his proven track record of building offenses around what his quarterbacks do well — suddenly there is room to believe that Wilson can turn the page on last season and put together a much better year from a production standpoint.

With Wilson also leaning out this offseason, could that have a bigger impact on what Payton can do with him?

Albert Okwuegbunam still has plenty to offer

Not only did Nathaniel Hackett fail to construct an efficient offense, but an argument can also be made that he failed to utilize his personnel effectively. Albert Okwuegbunam was robbed out of one season of his career due to coaching misutilization.

After converting on a key third down play and fourth down play in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, Okwuegbunam was suddenly missing from the lineup afterward without any explanation.

While his blocking has room to improve, he wasn’t drafted simply to be a blocking tight end. His athletic traits and size were the key reasons he was chosen.

He demonstrated that in his rookie season despite suffering a torn ACL. In his second season, he showcased his ability to catch the ball in the flat and make the extra effort after the catch to score touchdowns.

His third season was practically non-existent until interim head coach Jerry Rosburg pointed out that he wasn’t sure why Okwuegbunam wasn’t getting the chance to play. In his re-debut against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had a couple of dropped passes before shaking it off and hauling in a touchdown catch that gave the Denver Broncos a lead in hostile territory.

Even with the additions in the offseason of Adam Trautman and Chris Manhertz, Okwuegbunam still has a chance to make the roster. Despite being the subject of trade rumors last year near the deadline, he wasn’t dealt.

The Broncos had every opportunity this offseason to cut him but didn’t. His athletic traits are too impressive to simply discard and he will get every opportunity at training camp and in the preseason to showcase why he belongs on the roster.

Can’t count out Courtland Sutton

Courtland Sutton is one player that has seemingly been written off by so many in Broncos Country. While 2022 wasn’t the type of season he had expected from a production standpoint, Sutton’s value to the team is still intact.

He was also subjected to trade rumors this offseason, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton came out and said that they don’t plan on trading him or Jerry Jeudy.

Jeudy’s emergence as the Broncos most dynamic wide receiver has created questions about the viability of Sutton being able to produce. Rosburg put that to bed in the team’s final two games last season by implementing a game plan to move Jeudy and Sutton around in different formations as opposed to keeping one player at X and the other at Z.

Payton’s arrival in Denver has suggested he will do the same thing that saw Sutton and Jeudy capitalize and create big plays in their final two games of the season. Even if Sutton isn’t deemed as the team’s WR1, he can still be a major focal point of the offense.

His size and athletic ability are strong suits of his game and he’s arguably Denver’s best-blocking wide receiver. On top of that, can a renewed Russell Wilson help him and the receiving corp thrive this upcoming season?

If things go according to how Payton plans, the answer to that question is yes.