Sean Payton already has a plan to fix Russell Wilson
New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has a plan as to how he can get quarterback Russell Wilson to improve from last season.
After an exhaustive search that seemed borderline chaotic, the Denver Broncos have finally found their head coach. On Tuesday, the Broncos agreed to trade a 2023 first-round and 2024 second-round pick to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for head coach Sean Payton and a 2024 third-rounder. With that, the Broncos found their new head coach.
The Nathaniel Hackett hire last offseason didn’t work out, so the Broncos had set their sights high on a top-tier coaching candidate. Getting a Super Bowl champion head coach isn’t bad, even with the cost of draft capital. But, Payton has the task of trying to fix quarterback Russell Wilson, who struggled mightily this season after the team dealt multiple draft picks for him last offseason.
While speaking with Jeff Duncan of Nola.com on Tuesday (subscription required), Payton detailed his plan on both how to fix Wilson and to get the most out of him.
Sean Payton lays out plan to get the most out of Russell Wilson
“Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league,” said Payton, h/t NOLA.com. “The pressure is on us to put a good run game together and reduce the degree of difficulty on his position. I’m excited about him.”
The one point that sticks out is Payton wants to put together a good running game for Wilson. Last year, the Broncos running game did take a hit early on, as Javonte Williams suffered a torn ACL in Week 4. With that, Denver had to rely upon Mike Boone, while bringing in Latavius Murray and Chase Edmonds during the season. They had Melvin Gordon, but waived him after fumbling five times in 10 games played.
On the year, the Broncos rushing attack averaged 113.8 rushing yards per game (21st in NFL) and scored just 11 rushing touchdowns on the year (fifth-fewest), via ESPN.
Wilson struggled this past season, even while having the likes of Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy to target downfield. It certainly doesn’t help that he was sacked 55 times on the year, tied with Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears for the most of any quarterback this season. Offensive line could be an area to be addressed this offseason as well.
In his 15 games played, Wilson threw for 3,542 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while completing 60.5 percent of his passes.
Considering how much it took the Broncos to get both Wilson and Payton, they and the fanbase will need to see some results pretty quickly. But, it sounds like Payton does have a plan in place to ensure Wilson succeeds next season.
