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2022 Season Recap
Record: 5-12 (4th in AFC West)
Points For: 287 (32nd)
Points Against: 359 (14th)
Off-Season Roster Recap
Added: QB Jarred Stidham, QB Ben DiNucci, RB Tony Jones, RB Samaje Perine, WR Marquez Callaway, TE Adam Trautman, K Brett Maher, DE Frank Clark, DT Zach Allen, CB Tremon Smith, CB Fabian Moreau
Losses: RB Latavius Murray, RB Marlon Mack, RB Chase Edmonds, WR Kendall Hinton, K Brandon McManus, OT Casey Tucker, DE Jake Martin ,CB Ronald Darby,
Draft Recap Offense
( 63rd ) WR Marvin Mims, Oklahoma ( 257th ) C Alex Forsyth, Oregon
Draft Recap Defense
(67th ) LB Drew Sanders , Arkansas, ( 83rd ) CB Riley Moss, Iowa, ( 183rd ) S JL Skinner, Boise State
2023 Outlook
Can it get much worse for the Denver Broncos? The Broncos had a tremendous buzz entering the 2022 season with newly acquired Russell Wilson going to the Mile High City to elevate the likes of Jerry Jeudy, Cortland Sutton, Javonte Williams and company. New head coach Nathaniel Hackett, the architect of Aaron Rodgers’ MVP season in Green Bay was to bring the Broncos back to a competitive level that the franchise had not seen since Peyton Manning’s last season, which resulted in a Super Bowl victory.
Instead, the Broncos meandered through a miserable season, scoring a league low 287 points. Russell Wilson did not look sharp and Javonte Williams suffered a significant knee injury in Week 4. By the end of the year, the Nathaniel Hackett experiment was over and the Broncos were in the market for a new head coach once again.
Enter Sean Payton and his winning attitude; a 152-89 record as an NFL head coach, and guided his New Orleans Saints to victory in Super Bowl 44. In his 18 years of coaching ( three years as offensive coordinator for the Giants and 15 as head coach of the Saints ), Payton’s offenses have finished in the top in yards 15 times. His meat and potatoes has been primarily in the passing game; 14 times a Payton offense finished in the top 10 in passing yards, 13 times top 10 in passing touchdowns.
Will he instill the same offense that he found so much success with New Orleans, or will it be tailored to his current personnel? Russell Wilson figures to rebound from a forgettable season now under Patyon’s guidance and with Joe Lombardi calling the plays. He had the lowest Quarterback rating of his career, the lowest air yards per attempt of his career and set a career low in passing touchdowns with just 16. Is this a sign of regression for the 34 year old signal caller? Receivers Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton will both see their share of targets, while rookie Marvin Mims Jr is almost a lock for the WR3 role after unfortunate injuries to both K.J Hamler and Tim Patrick in training camp. Mims has already looked tremendous in limited pre-season action, and figures to Tight End Greg Dulchich showed early promise last season and could be a focal point of the Payton offense.
In the backfield , it looks as if Javonte WIlliams has made a remarkable recovery from his knee injury that limited him to four games in 2022. He benefited from Denver not adding much in the way of competition; Samaje Perine from Cincinnati was the only significant addition. Injury or not, we have not seen WIlliams with a full workload. Previously, he had Melvin Gordon nipping at his heels. He’s the biggest coin flip in the league; The only glimpses we’ve seen of Williams were in the thick of a timeshare, and four games in what ended up being an abysmal season. Williams has caught a lot of passes thus far in his career ( 59 catches in 21 games )which makes you wonder if the offensive scheme will use him similarly to how Alvin Kamara was used in New Orleans. Is he poised to become elite, or another rotational back like J.K Dobbins? Rounding out the backfield is Samaje Perine, a former 2nd round pick of the Washington franchise in 2017 who appears to be somewhat of a late bloomer. He’s the bigger running back and figures to see goalline work and the majority of the carries if Williams is not truly back from his knee injury.
The offensive line looks to be much improved, ranked 11th per pff. Broncos quarterbacks were sacked a league high 63 times in 2022. The rest of the offense was middle of the road in both passing and rushing metric so the team is not completely broken. The Broncos’ play calling was just so dreadful in 2022, it’s almost unfair to draw any conclusions as to how their 2023 counterpart will play. Give them a mulligan if you will.
Javonte Williams figures to get a large workload for the first time in his career, and will enjoy a fairly easy schedule for weeks 10-18. Jerry Jeudy may miss time due to a hamstring strain early in the season but figures to be a solid WR2 on the year. Marvin Mims figures to impress this season as a strong rookie of the year candidate and very well could surpass Courtland Sutton this season. Under the watchful eye of Coach Payton, I expect the entire team to rebound and battle for at least a Wild Card spot in this years playoffs.
2023 Denver Broncos schedule:
Week 1 vs Las Vegas
Week 2 vs Washington
Week 3 at Miami
Week 4 at Chicago
Week 5 vs New York Jets
Week 6 at Kansas City
Week 7 vs Green Bay
Week 8 vs Kansas City
Week 9 vs BYE
Week 10 at Buffalo
Week 11 vs Minnesota
Week 12 vs Cleveland
Week 13 at Houston
Week 14 at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 15 at Detroit
Week 16 vs New England
Week 17 vs Los Angeles Chargers
Week 18 at Las Vegas
Strength of schedule: .517(12th toughest)
Vegas Wins – 8.5
#Mroviedo’s record prediction - 12 wins 5 Losses
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