Denver Broncos: Russell Wilson, offense beginning to heat up

The Denver Broncos’ offense is slowly beginning to stack days in training camp, and Russell Wilson is looking like his old self again.  I will tell you right now; if the Broncos’ offense can play like Sean Payton’s offenses have historically played, this team will make a deep playoff run in 2023 and beyond.

The defense is likely going to be solid as usual.  They were one of the best units in the NFL in 2023, and what makes that even more impressive is that they struggled to get to the quarterback.  New defensive coordinator Vance Joseph loves to blitz and has praised his pass rushers so far in training camp.

An improved pass rush and a secondary that will most certainly be solid can turn this defense into one of the best in the NFL.  However, the big story for the Denver Broncos as of late is their offense beginning to stack days, and Russell Wilson is making some great plays.

He’s down to 213 pounds, according to Albert Breer, and it’s clear that he has lost weight from last year, which is when he wanted to become more of a pocket passer.  However, that blew up in the team’s face, so Wilson is boasting some weight loss and will likely be playing in a similar style of offense that he did for a decade in Seattle.

For a decade and a half in New Orleans, Sean Payton ran a pass-heavy offense with Drew Brees, who was a pure pocket passer.  I guess there could be reason to believe that Payton would not be able to play Russell Wilson in that type of system, but so far in training camp, the product looks great.

You might roll your eyes that the offense and Russell Wilson are making plays during training camp, but it’s certainly better than having to report that things aren’t going well.  What Russell Wilson did well in Seattle was making plays with his legs.  The naked bootlegs and play-action passes were the structure of that offense.

Russell Wilson was best playing in that style of offense, and that might be simplifying it too much, but that’s what we saw for those 10 years.  If the Denver Broncos want to get the most out of their quarterback, this is what they’ll need to do.  The duo of Sean Payton and Russell Wilson could end up being a total dud if both are past their respective primes, but if not and they still have something left in the tank, this is a duo that can certainly be among the league’s best.