Denver Broncos: Pressure & Expectations Russell Wilson's Struggles, Injuries & Sean Payton's Arrival

Unveiling the Denver Broncos' Crucial Season: Pressure, Struggles & High Stakes 🏈🔥 Step into the huddle as we dissect the intense spotlight shining on the Denver Broncos in the upcoming season! 🌟 In this must-watch discussion, we dive deep into the pressure and sky-high expectations surrounding the team, following a rollercoaster of challenges and changes. Russell Wilson's debut season with the Broncos didn't go as planned, leaving fans and analysts pondering the future. Combine that with the setbacks of injuries to key players like K.J. Hamler and Tim Patrick, and the stage is set for a defining moment in the franchise's journey. But that's not all – a seismic shift is happening at the coaching helm. Sean Payton steps into his first season with the Broncos, adding a new layer of anticipation and scrutiny. We'll unravel the dynamic between Payton's arrival and his past comments about Nathaniel Hackett's coaching legacy, sparking intriguing debates about leadership and team dynamics. Join our panel of NFL experts as we weigh the Broncos' potential comeback, the resilience needed to overcome adversity, and the expectations that come with the spotlight. Whether you're a die-hard Broncos supporter, a football aficionado, or simply intrigued by the psychology of team dynamics, this video is your ultimate playbook. Don't miss out on this gripping discussion that dissects the perfect storm of pressures and challenges facing the Denver Broncos. Like, subscribe, and dive into the fray as we decode the narrative that could shape their journey into the NFL spotlight. 🎥🏆

Julian Martinez: [00:00:04] Well, it's a year or two for Russell Wilson in Denver. It's year one for Sean Payton. And so far, their training camp has not gotten off to the best of starts. Tim Patrick Torn Achilles, K.J. Hamler heart issue that's going to keep him out. So here we are again. They're getting beat up before the season even starts. Does that at all change the expectations for Denver coming into this year? [00:00:26][21.8]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:00:27] Well, that's a good question. What are the expectations for Denver this year? Because obviously, they're not going to win the division and obviously they are not going to be better than Baltimore, I would say. So I guess Denver's in that gluttony of teams trying to fight for the sixth or seventh wildcard in the AFC this year. So I guess not making the playoffs would feel like a disappointment, but I don't think this Denver team is good enough to make the playoffs in the AFC specifically. Like I say, they're not that good. I mean, they last year traded off a couple of big pieces on that defense. We know Bradley Chubb was the biggest of them that was traded at the deadline and their defense was still really good last year. Defense is the position. That's harder to predict whether it's going to be good year over year. But let's say that Denver still has a very good defense going into next year. That then puts the onus on Sean Payton to develop that offense. But like you said, they have lost two of their top four wide receivers at this point. There was already talks about Jerry Jeudy getting traded at the deadline. So I don't know if he's got the same rapport with Russell Wilson that they might need. So then it leans on. Javonte Williams and the Broncos are leaning on an injury prone running back entering his fourth seasons. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's going to be as catastrophic as last year, but they also don't have a whole lot of talent on that football team. So yeah, I don't know where the expectations even lie for Denver this year. They're, by my count, the third best team in the AFC West. And if they're the third best team in the AFC West, that means they're probably shooting for like eight and nine this season. [00:02:12][104.8]
Julian Martinez: [00:02:13] When you consider last year what their strength was with that defense, there was the stat, of course, if they scored 18 plus points in these respective games, they would have been a playoff team last year. And if you insert Sean Payton instantly, that should be a boost to the offense, right? You get a guy with a better offensive scheme, maybe he can revive Russell Wilson and that's really what it's going to fall back on if Russell Wilson looks like he did last year or the year before that it doesn't look like Russell Wilson from 2019 or hell, even just not even. He doesn't even need be that good. He just needs to be serviceable. Russell Wilson again. Then this team can live off the back of their defense, live off a running game. You mentioned it too, though. Javonte Williams is coming off an ACL injury. So how good is he going to be? I think most people, especially in the fantasy football community, want to believe that Javonte Williams will still be will still come back fine from this one ACL. Obviously we've seen a lot of running backs go through it over the years. It's kind of the NFL version of Tommy John where guys just kind of have to go through it at some point. I don't think most teams like whenever they suffer like a third wide receiver injury, fourth wide receiver injury, really realize how much of an impact that is until they get middle of the year. Because you mentioned Jerry Jeudy, he even battled injuries I think it was week one of last year where we thought he had a season ending injury. So suddenly, you know, you have an injury to him. Courtland Sutton gets banged up and then you realize just how thin you are at wide receiver. And Russell Wilson is all kind of like fighting for his NFL career. Just suddenly he has no one to throw to what is it, Big Albert Big a big oh, whatever. Is there tight end? Is that going to be like your top guy if, like, Sutton gets a concussion and Jerry Jeudy has a banged up ankle? [00:03:59][106.8]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:00] Apparently number one on the depth chart is someone named Greg Dolcich at the tight end position. And then they have Albert O and Adam Trautman still hanging around in the NFL is in their tight end room. I don't know who any of those people are, but they are their third wide receivers as well. [00:04:17][17.1]
Julian Martinez: [00:04:17] I guess that makes sense, right? Trautman Because I'm pretty sure he got drafted by the Saints when Sean Payton was there. [00:04:22][5.3]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:04:23] You would be correct. Yes, he he did indeed get drafted by the Saints back in 2020. The Broncos feel like this year the team that's like we get to week 17 and then there's going to be like one result that locks up a playoff berth for like the Chargers and it just eliminates like four teams from the In the Hunt graphic. That's what it feels like Denver's going to be this year. They're going to be one of those teams that like gets bumped out of the in the Hunt graphic like in week 17 because the sixth wild card has been locked up in the AFC. That feels like where Denver's kind of headed for this year. But they're digging themselves out of a big hole. And I'm not talking about just the Nathaniel Hackett catastrophe of. Last season. It is eight seasons of being one of the worst around organizations in the NFL. The Denver Broncos right now have the second longest playoff drought in all of the NFL. Like we think of them having Peyton Manning and everything that was going on when they were competing with the Patriots. They went to two Super Bowls and made a divisional playoff with the number one seed since the end of that Peyton Manning run. They had been one of the worst run organizations in football. They have used 14 different quarterbacks in and one wide receiver at quarterback In the span of the last eight seasons. I used to be able to name them off the top of my head. But there's a mark Sanchez in there twice. There's two Mark Sanchez runs for the Broncos in that span. So they have been essentially the new Cleveland Browns over the last eight years, and they are now trying to dig themselves out of that hole with Russell Wilson and Sean Payton. [00:05:56][92.7]
Julian Martinez: [00:05:57] Well, we can talk about it last week, but I should ask you on camera, on microphone here, did Sean Payton make a mistake choosing Denver? He got to stayed in the analyst booth one more year. There's plenty of great open positions coming up, I think, next season. Did he make a mistake jumping the gun for Denver? [00:06:13][16.6]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:06:14] It's hard to tell anyone who's making $18 million a year for the next six years that they made a mistake. But in terms of like which job gives him the best opportunity to succeed? Yeah, he may have made a mistake, but also that WalMart money hits a little bit different when it shows up into your bank account. It's hard to turn down being the second highest paid coach in the NFL, which reportedly is what Sean Payton is right now. Like, we don't know the exact contract terms of NFL coaches, but reportedly he is the second highest paid coach in the NFL right now behind Bill Belichick. I would say it's hard to turn down that kind of money, but the Broncos didn't want him. [00:06:49][35.1]
Julian Martinez: [00:06:49] Well, yeah, no one cares about John Payton's pocketbook. We don't care about that. But yes, let's focus more on the in terms of success like because my my point is like next year I can see Brandon Staley getting fired with the Chargers. I could see Mike McCarthy being out of Dallas, both situations, especially the Chargers one. Hell, I was all aboard The Brandon Staley should have been fired last year and just go out there and offer your best contract to Sean Payton. And obviously the Chargers didn't do it. We know Spanos has a reputation for being cheap at head coach because even Brandon Staley is what, it's third or fourth first time head coach that he's hired recently. So in. [00:07:26][36.7]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:07:26] A row. Yes, in a row they have gone from Mike McCoy to Anthony Lynn to Brandon Staley. [00:07:32][6.1]
Julian Martinez: [00:07:33] But I would much rather tie my ship to ascending Justin Herbert Then what we saw with Ross last year, how Sean Payton, he had a weekly segment on Cowherd's show where we would go on and talk about what's happening in the NFL. And the Broncos, of course, came up more often than not because the Broncos were. Interesting story last year and Sean Payton knew what he was getting into. He would talk about it weekly, what was going on in Denver, and he's still talking about it. Obviously. We go back to his comments last week about Nathaniel Hackett throwing under the bus one of the worst head coaching jobs ever. I'm pretty sure if we checked the tape, we checked out every word. He probably said a few negative things about how Russell Wilson was slowing down last year, just because you have to look at it through a different lens as an analyst versus being a coach or being specifically the coach of that player that's struggling. He knew what he's getting into and it doesn't matter what the contract is. I get it. But every NFL team is going to pay. Well, I'm sure you guys got 18 million next year, too. [00:08:28][55.4]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:08:29] It was the new owner. I just situation right. The owners wanted a splash move with the head coaching position and so the day they got up and said we are going to hire the best head coach available on the market. And so they offered DeMeco Ryans the contract and DeMeco Ryans turned them down for the Houston Texans. So then they pivoted to their second option, which was Sean Payton. Remember that people the Denver Broncos wanted to hire DeMeco Ryans DeMeco Ryans said that the Texans who are run by a youth pastor for three seasons were better than the Denver Broncos head coaching job. DeMeco took the Texans job over the Broncos job, and then the Broncos pivoted to their second choice of Sean Payton. So that tells you kind of where Sean Payton's reputation lies right now in the NFL. And by the way, they had to give up a first round pick to make that happen. Like, I don't think that Sean Payton is enough to fix all of your problems because Sean Payton with not enough talent on the roster, we've seen what that becomes like. Sean Payton is the is the kind of coach that will elevate your roster if you give him talented players and people will talk about him losing all those games in the playoffs and all that stuff and blah blah blah like I understand that part of it. And Sean Payton got the perfect quarterback in Drew Brees to reinvent his career and win a Super Bowl like Sean Payton. And by the way, they won more regular season games in four years with the Saints between 2017 and 2020 than any team in NFL history that didn't make a Super Bowl like they were great. [00:09:54][84.9]
Julian Martinez: [00:09:54] I won't push back because I don't want to completely undervalue Sean Payton because there were years where Drew Brees was injured and you had inserted. Teddy Bridgewater or you had to have Taysom Hill in there for a few snaps or Jameis Winston came in for a game. And Sean Payton's record in those games was pretty good. He was able to still keep things going, even with injuries. Obviously not having Michael Thomas basically the last two, three years. [00:10:18][24.1]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:19] Yeah. And where I think there's a difference there is the Saints had talented players on offense all throughout Sean Payton's tenure with New Orleans and that's why the general manager, Mickey Loomis with the Saints has been there for just as long as Sean Payton has. They had talented players. They're surrounded by Drew Brees for all of. [00:10:38][18.7]
Julian Martinez: [00:10:38] But I don't want to say that Denver doesn't have talent players like I think Courtland Sutton is a talented wide receiver. I think Jerry Jeudy is a talented wide receiver. I think Javonte Williams is a talented running back. We still have to see how he comes back from this ACL but is a talented running back. [00:10:51][13.6]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:10:52] No, but yeah, but I'm talking about top of the line players in the league. Like for whatever you think about Mark Ingram Mark Ingram made one Pro Bowl with the Saints They had Mark Ingram they had Jimmy Graham And then when those two players were done, they pivoted to Max Unger and drafted Ryan Ramczyk on the offensive line. Alvin Kamara has been an All-Pro running back. Michael Thomas has been an All-Pro receiver. They've had consistent top of the line. I think a lot of. [00:11:14][22.4]
Julian Martinez: [00:11:14] Guys would say that guys like Jeudy, who was a former first round pick, Courtland Sutton, and a former first round pick they thought they think could be that or be considered that had they just had consistent quarterback play. One of the narratives coming into last year is, wow. Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, they're getting it done with lesser talent At the quarterback position. You get Russell Wilson in here, future Hall of Famer Russell Wilson in here and their stats are just going to blow up. These guys are going to be consistently thousand 1500 yard wide receivers. They're going to put up career touchdown numbers and then last year happened and it wasn't their fault or was it their quarterback's fault? Was it their coach's fault? Probably a combination of both. But like I don't think they're lesser talent because their coaches and their quarterback let them down. [00:11:58][43.8]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:11:59] I think with Courtland Sutton, I never bought into the hype, so I've never considered the possibility that he would be a top end receiver with Jerry Jeudy I understand that, though, because Jeudy was the top ten prospect in that draft class. He was expected to come in and be the number one. He's had one above average season. I think he had 900 yards and I think he only played 12 or 13 games his second season, but he had close to 1000 yards on pace for, like Jeudy, I could understand the belief that he could be a Pro Bowl caliber wide receiver even in the AFC, which has all of these, you know, Tyreek Hills and Stefon Diggs and I'm forgetting someone, but point B Ja'marr Chase You could make the case for Jeudy being a top end receiver. And at this point they're betting on that being their best path forward. Is development of players already in house. Because I know they signed Zach Allen, I know that they signed Mike McGlinchey on the offensive line, but other than that, they didn't really change the roster all that much from last year. They were betting on Hackett is a disaster and we can run it back with a different coach and that will be our path to improvement. And my point from the beginning is I don't think the Broncos have very good players. Even last year my preseason prediction was for the Broncos was they would be competing for the seventh wild card in the AFC and it all fell apart on them at the end of the season, but they haven't gotten any better. [00:13:15][76.9]
Julian Martinez: [00:13:16] So I will play a little more devil's advocate here. I do know that at one point they were on their third left tackle last year. Yeah, you know, that stuff matters, right? It does play into the grand scheme of things like having injuries at the offensive line. Now, again, I go back and I did watch those Broncos games and I thought to myself, Russell Wilson again, just isn't making the best decisions. Like there's blooper reel of him having guys literally wide open middle of the field. The Colts game right Thursday night last year where he had K.J. Hammer speaking of K.J. Hammer, wide open, middle of the field, people are questioning whether Russell Wilson was legitimately blind. [00:13:51][35.6]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:13:52] The best thing I can say about the Broncos right now is they will be better than the Raiders, which is something they were not last year. So I think that they'll be better than the Raiders because last year they were, if I'm doing my math correctly, my head finished 14th out of 16 in the AFC. And while there's a lot of like glut in the middle of the AFC this year, I don't think they're going to be that bad. Like, I don't think they're going to be so bad that they are that want to start the Seahawks. I actually I think they just used the last Seahawks pick so that they'll be drafting at the top of the draft like I don't think it'll be that bad next season that they'll be in the top five of the draft again. But I also I don't think I don't think the roster's all that talented and this is me saying that I think Russell Wilson is somewhere between what he was at the end in Seattle, which was like a tier two and a half tier three quarterback, and where he was last year, which was legitimately one of the worst starters in the NFL. I think Russell Wilson somewhere in between at this point, I just I still don't think that's going to be enough to turn a corner for Denver because they don't have enough talent. [00:14:51][58.8]
Julian Martinez: [00:14:51] And you mentioned this earlier, but where they fit into the grand scheme of the AFC, Right. The Chiefs, if we put them in pen to win the division again, then they have to jump over. A lot of AFC North teams, a lot of AFC East teams, the AFC South, I mean maybe like a Tennessee or something surprises you. There's always that like one, right? [00:15:12][20.5]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:12] Yeah. If I told you that Tennessee, Indy or Houston could be a spicy seven in ten this season that you would believe me if I told you any of those teams were seven and ten and cause problems for. [00:15:22][9.4]
Julian Martinez: [00:15:22] And we're also assuming that the Jaguars take that next step this year and just win that division. And then again in division itself. You mentioned you think the Broncos will outright be better than the Raiders. Who knows, Maybe Jimmy winning Garoppolo comes in and gives them seven wins or something like that. And they're better than the Broncos. [00:15:38][16.3]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:15:39] I can't even look at that with a straight face. I just it's just funny to think of hater hater. They're talking about the Raiders might just cut Josh Jacobs, just rescind his franchise tag and be like, okay, see you can leave. [00:15:51][11.6]
Julian Martinez: [00:15:51] Yeah, they're a shit show. But still it's it's a possibility it's in the cards because the Raiders I think beat the Broncos twice last year. You the Chargers. Yeah you know and then the Chargers do it another double digit win team and regardless of how much I have disdain for Brandon Staley as head coach and I think that he's a bit of a chump in that position they were a double digit win teams. They also have to leap over them too. So there is that you know I recognize they have to jump over like five teams to even be in the playoffs this year. [00:16:20][28.8]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:16:21] Yeah, and look, before the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, they were not good enough. I said it at the time. I said it after they were not good enough. But I commend them for saying we're still going to try and get a franchise quarterback anyways, even if it costs us no offense to first round picks and a second round pick. I commend them that they said we're still going to try it anyways. But the Broncos, they said we're going to go for it. We're going to give up essentially three first round picks because no offense was a first round pick two years prior. We're going to essentially give up three first round picks for Russell Wilson and I commend them for saying we're going to try it because they didn't have enough talent at the time. It was a catastrophe last year, but I still thought at the start of the year they've got enough talent to compete for the seventh wildcard spot. And this year I can say they've got enough talent to compete for the seventh wildcard spot. That seems to be where I'm at with the Broncos right now is if they put the pieces together correctly, they won't be battered in Kansas City or Cincinnati or Baltimore or the Los Angeles Chargers or. [00:17:22][61.3]
Julian Martinez: [00:17:23] Buffalo. [00:17:23][0.0]
Kyle Ledbetter: [00:17:24] Buffalo or the obligatory team that wins the AFC South. But they could maybe get that last mark. They are just as talented as the Jets, and that's why I think they are just as talented as the Jets. And one of those teams might get into the playoffs. [00:17:38][13.7]
Julian Martinez: [00:17:39] Denver Target painted on their back. What do you think this year? Big expectations come in when Sean Payton can Russell Wilson revive his career? How much do these injuries in training camp hurt them? Like for your thoughts any and all things Denver Broncos will I can video subscribe to our channel find us on all our social media from JuJu and Kyle Stay safe happy and healthy. We will see you next time. [00:17:39][0.0]
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