Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton spread expectations evenly last season, noting it was a whole-team effort to help then-rookie QB Bo Nix achieve success.
This offseason, Payton has said that help for Nix can also come in the form of the Broncos strengthening other areas. The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel believes there is a “simple” approach, and that is to support Nix directly with “offensive playmakers.”
Gabriel implored Payton and the Broncos to do that after the coach’s comments to the contrary.
“Among the best places a franchise in today’s NFL can be is competitive and led by a quarterback on a rookie contract,” Gabriel wrote on April 20. “That’s now the Broncos, with the caveat that they still will carry $32 million in dead salary cap charges for [Russell] Wilson through this season.
“What they don’t have is enough field-tilting talent on offense. The kind of players who strike fear into coordinators week in and week out.”
That hit was part of a historic $85 million dead cap hit, the brunt of which was absorbed in 2024.
Gabriel focused the Broncos’ “needs” down even further, and a familiar theme emerged: the running back position.
Javonte Williams was the Broncos’ leading rusher in 2024 with 513 yards and 4 touchdowns on 139 carries. He also had a 52-346-0 line as a pass-catcher. However, Williams signed with the Dallas Cowboys in free agency.
Jaleel McLaughlin was next with 496 rushing yards. Nix was third on the Broncos with 430 yards.
Broncos Projected to Draft North Carolina Tar Heels RB Omarion Hampton
The Broncos still have second-year backs Audric Estime and Blake Watson and fellow incumbents McLaughlin and Tyler Badie to take pressure off of Nix. Their interest in the incoming class of running back prospects speaks to their need at the position, though.
“When it comes to helping a quarterback, Payton likes to say, two of the best ways are with a good defense and a good run game,” Gabriel wrote. “They spent real money in free agency, largely aimed at bolstering an already-good defense and attempting to make it regression-proof. Maybe even elite.
“What they have not yet addressed in a real way this offseason is the run game.”
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter projected the Broncos to select former North Carolina Tar Heels star Omarion Hampton with the No. 20 overall pick.
“Hampton is the kind of true lead back the Broncos haven’t had since Sean Payton took over in 2023,” Rueter wrote on April 18. “He has more juice than his predecessor in Denver in this scenario, fellow former North Carolina back Javonte Williams, while also presenting the power to make tacklers look like turnstiles.”
