Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is more full of corn syrup than a box of Lucky Charms.
Where you or I might regard the Denver offense as marshmallow soft, Wilson looks around the huddle and sees talent thatap magically delicious: Stalwart O-lineman. Dangerous playmakers. Give it time and look out, NFL world.
“It takes time to paint a beautiful picture,” Wilson said Wednesday, preaching patience for the offense’s development under new coach Sean Payton.
Well, I might not know much about football or art, but even my untrained eyes could see it wasn’t a Monet in the opening preseason game against the Cardinals.
Working against backup defenders on a bad Arizona team, DangeRuss and the Denver offense huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the doors off the Cards, scoring one touchdown in four drives before calling it a night in the desert.
No matter how Wilson might try to sugarcoat the problems, the Broncos often looked like the same boring team that has missed the playoffs for seven straight years. Don’t know about you, but my patience has been tested to the max.
The Broncos need to be a touchdown better than the 16.9 points they averaged a year ago, during a season so wretched it got coach Nathaniel Hackett fired and made NFL analysts wonder aloud if Wilson was washed up after 11 seasons in the league.
I asked Wilson if experiencing the worst season of his career changed his definition of success for himself and the Broncos in 2023.
“No. Unt-uh,” Wilson replied. “I think we all want to be our best and I think that’s what we’re all searching for every day.”
So we’ll hold Wilson to his stubbornly optimistic belief the Broncos will be in Super Bowl contention multiple times during the tenure of his mega contract with Denver. We also know the crazy-rich Waltons didn’t hire a veteran coach with the win-now mentality of Payton in order to wait until next year to get back in championship contention.
“We’re feeling real confident in terms of what we’re doing and who we want to be,” Wilson said. “Being a physical running football team. And being a team that can also throw the ball around the field.”
For all his reputation as an offensive mastermind, what Payton tries to do on offense isn’t about bells and whistles so much as hammer and tongs. He wants opposing NFL defenses to not only feel the Broncos relentless physicality on Sunday, but wake up the next morning grimacing from the bruises inflicted.
So mark me down as believing the most important player to watch in the Denver offensive huddle between now and the season opener against Las Vegas in September is not Wilson, but running back Javonte Williams.
Fewer than 10 months ago, Williams tore up his right knee, suffering serious damage to both his ACL and LCL that required surgery.
His recovery, however, has gone better than anyone in apountry could’ve hoped. Williams is scheduled to take snaps with the first unit when Denver travels this weekend to play San Francisco in an exhibition game.
“He’s one of those guys you aren’t going to really appreciate until it’s real football … breaking tackles … pushing piles,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said.
Williams doesn’t dance. He would rather knock down a defender and drag him than juke or jive.
But for as remarkably quick as his rehabilitation has progressed, we need to see Williams bowl over the Niners before being anywhere near fully confident he is back to being the bulldozer that rumbled for 903 yards rushing as a rookie in 2021.
Envisioning the Broncos earning 10 victories and a playoff berth is far more realistic than a crazy fantasy if half those W’s can be achieved when Williams, and not Wilson, is Denver’s best offensive player on the field.
Back in the day, a running back named Terrell Davis carried John Elway to the Super Bowl championships that eluded the greatest quarterback in franchise history.
I’m not suggesting Williams is TD, because itap totally unfair to compare him to a ballcarrier worthy of enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But does Williams have what it takes to carry Wilson back to respectability?
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