Is This The Year The Broncos Finally Ride Into the Playoffs?
Updated: Jun 26, 2023
The Denver Broncos' 2022 season was a mess. Failing to make much of an impact with all the offseason additions they made but with Sean Payton coming to town will he be able to tame these wild horses?
The Nathaniel Hackett Experiment
This time last year the Broncos were soaring high, acquiring players like Russell Wilson which cost them an arm and a leg and some more on offense while signing players like Randy Gregory and DJ Jones to bolster the defense. The Broncos also brought in new head coach Nathaniel Hackett to help guide the young talented players on offense, with time spent in Green Bay and coaching Aaron Rodgers the hire seemed perfect the Bronco's Front office was hoping that success would come their way and let me tell you that was not the case. Russell Wilson flamed out and I'm being nice when I say that, Nathaniel Hackett released just 15 games into his first year as a head coach and man does that gotta stinge.
Some key players also got hurt along the way like Tim Patrick suffering a torn ACL during training camp and Javonte Williams tearing his ACL, LCL, and PCL during the Bronco's week four matchup against the Raiders while also trading away a young talented edge rusher in Bradley Chubb might come back to bite them in the butt to make it short the season was let say a disaster at best.
While I might not be the type to judge people, I certainly can see the Broncos went nowhere fast last season. It was obvious the main cause of those problems was Russell Wilson and Nanthiel Hackett. This is just speculation but it seemed like Hackett never earned the trust and respect of all the players in the locker room and that showed on the field resulting in what no franchise wants a missed opportunity to go to the playoffs. Luckily there were some bright spots Jerry Juedy played pretty well despite having some lackluster quarterback play, Latavius Murray played well despite not running behind the greatest line in the world and Justin Simmons grabbed the most interceptions of his career six.
Will Sean Payton Get Russ To Cook
With Sean Payton coming to town will he be able to kitchen nightmare this disaster of a team last year? Only time will tell but with his track record for getting the most out of his quarterbacks and having high-powered offenses. I think he is the right man to tame these wild Broncos and get russell wilson to be the guy he used to be in Seattle. The additions of Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers should help fix some of the offensive line issues, players like Zach Allen, Kareem Jackson, Samaje Perine, and Kyle Fuller add excellent depth that should all be able to help mentor some of the younger players in the locker room.
The Broncos in my opinion had a solid draft adding Marvin Mims for some depth at receiver that could in a couple of years be a solid number two or three receiver, Drew Sanders is also another prospect out of Arkansas who made nothing but plays in college and Riley Moss who could provide some some special team play.
Overall this Broncos team has a lot of things going in the right direction with all the new additions this offseason. For success this year the run game is gonna be key to making a run into the playoffs if Sean Payton can't fix what's wrong with Russ then the only way to score points is to run the rock and feast off the play action along with the short to medium passes. With all the new faces it seems this is finally the year to be proud to be a Broncos fan.
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