- Denver Broncos. "Snake" Plummer questions Shedeur Sanders' true motivation: GOAT or billionaire?
- NFL. Bill Belichick will appear on every ManningCast this season
The Denver Broncos' quarterback room is full of orphaned dogs. At least, that's how head coach Sean Payton described his three quarterbacks, Bo Nix, Zach Wilson, and Jarrett Stidham, a few days into organized team activities (OTAs).
Since Peyton Manning retired in 2015, the Denver Broncos have been unable to find a quarterback who lives up to their expectations. Manning was not only the last to lead the team to a Super Bowl victory but also the last to lead them to the postseason.
Since then, the team has had 14 starting quarterbacks, including their 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch and veteran star Russell Wilson. The latter raised great expectations for the team; however, istrative instability did not allow him to shine as expected, and he left after just two years in the organization.
Despite the poor performance in recent years, head coach Sean Payton, in his second year at the helm, is happy with the flexibility that the three options in the quarterback room allow him.
Nix, Wilson, and Stidham
In a conversation with the media, Payton noted that the three quarterbacks the team currently has come from very different systems. "One is coming from college. One is coming from two or three NFL systems, and the other is coming from one system. They're all in a race to learn this system," the coach explained.
It is worth ing that Nix was the Broncos' first selection in the 2024 Draft, number 12 overall, from the Oregon Ducks. Wilson spent the first three years of his career with the New York Jets before coming to the Broncos. Stidham, for his part, played two years with the New England Patriots and one with the Las Vegas Raiders, before landing in Denver as Wilson's backup.
That's why Payton jokingly described them as "the orphaned group," clarifying, "They're all orphaned dogs. They've come from somewhere, but they're doing good. It's a good room."
With such a young group-at 27 years old, Stidham is the veteran of the trio-Payton couldn't help but be optimistic about their performance. "I would say-you guys watched the practice-they're doing well," the head coach stated.
Who will be the starter?
Despite his words, Payton avoided saying who might be the starter for the 2024 season. With a couple of OTAs, minicamps, training camps, and the preseason still ahead, the head coach has plenty of time to choose the starter.
At the moment, everyone seems to have the same opportunity. The team worked hard to get Nix in the draft, struggled to bring in Wilson in free agency, and decided to keep Stidham after Russell Wilson's departure.
The hope of the team and its fans is that one of them will finally manage to fill Manning's shoes and definitively exorcize the ghost of Russell Wilson.