If a league-ranking think-piece falls in the quiet forest of the NFL offseason, it does, in fact, make a sound. A loud one. Particularly in Denver, this town that demands greatness from its Broncos but bristles at any outsider who dismisses the Broncos as less-than-great.
This week, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix placed 18th in ESPN’s , compiled from anonymous conversations with various NFL staffers. Indicative, certainly, of league-wide belief that Nix has steps to take entering Year 3: he did finish 26th of 33 qualified quarterbacks in passer rating (87.8) and 28th in yards-per-attempt (6.4) last year, after all. But the mid-tier placement given Nix’s league-leading seven game-winning drives in 2025 and playoff win over Bills star Josh Allen.
Was such a ranking fair? Who knows. Probably a bit low. But we here at The Post are not here to speculate about league-wide hot takes; we decided to speculate, though, about Broncos-specific hot takes that have been simmering in the back of our minds for an offseason since Denver fell to New England in last year’s AFC Championship.
With that in mind, Broncos beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Luca Evans have assembled individual lists of five sizzling predictions for Denver’s 2026 season (plus one completely off-the-wall take), a couple of short weeks removed from the start of training camp. Time for our own slightly informed think-piece. Let’s dive in.
Disclaimer: We are in no way advocating for these to come true or rooting for these predictions to take place. These are solely opinions and should be viewed as such.
Parker Gabriel’s takes
No. 1. I am less confident in the Broncos making the postseason this year than I was at this time last year.
To be clear, I think the Broncos will make the playoffs and will be surprised if they don’t. But the first-place schedule is no joke. The opening six games are brutal. The stretch run is no joke. Denver has been largely healthy in the regular season since Payton arrived. The changes on defense in both personnel and staff might be a bit underrated. Plus, when a team is so good in one-score games one year, there’s natural wonder about regression the next year. Plus, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson didn’t make the playoff field last year. Teams will beat up on each other, but 10-7 isn’t a sure ticket to the playoffs this fall in the AFC.
No. 2. Que Robinson will finish second on the team in sacks
Part of this, naturally, is because of the uncertainty around Jonathon Cooper’s future as he faces a felony assault charge stemming from June’s domestic violence-related incidents with his former girlfriend. Part of it, though, is because Robinson looks like a true breakout candidate going into his second season. Could Jonah Elliss get to 10 sacks with more playing time? Sure. Might Zach Allen set a new career-high and flirt with double digits? Certainly possible. But Robinson’s explosiveness and his ability to play in any down-and-distance situation make him an intriguing candidate behind clear team sack leader Nik Bonitto.
No. 3. The Broncos won’t trade a player who is slated to have a substantial role this summer, but they should
Nearly every move Denver has made this offseason has been about winning this fall. Certainly, they’ve done some long-range planning in how they structured contract extensions and they opted to let John Franklin-Myers walk even though technically they could have afforded to keep him, but by and large this looks like a team thatap putting a lot of chips in right now. Makes sense with Bo Nix still on his rookie contract. We also know depth is paramount as seasons grind on. Still, if the Broncos are relatively healthy by the middle of training camp, there’s a decent chance somebody else around the league will want somebody on Denver’s roster. Is that Ben Powers? Riley Moss? Troy Franklin? Jarrett Stidham? The Broncos profited nicely by trading Devaughn Vele last summer. They can afford to do something similar this summer if a team comes calling in a similar fashion, and it’d be good business for the future.
No. 4. The next Broncos assistant to get a head coaching interview is Evan Rothstein and it will happen this winter
Three Broncos assistant coaches got head coaching interviews this winter: Webb, Joseph and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, so they’re off the board. Rothstein isn’t an on-field coordinator like those three — his title is director of game management and assistant QB coach — but Payton holds him in extremely high regard. He’s instrumental in the building, even if he doesn’t get a ton of public mention by Broncos coaches and staffers. He’ll get some head-coaching buzz and will be a sneaky offensive-coordinator candidate in Denver if Webb gets a head-coaching job.
No. 5. Sam Ehlinger will win the No. 2 quarterback job in training camp
Stidham has been the No. 2 for each of the past three years and is the favorite to win that job again. Webb, though, was really high on Ehlinger as a free agent last spring and the former Colt and Texas Longhorn impressed coaches in his first season with the Broncos. Letap say they’re about even through training camp. Do Payton and Webb carry on with the status quo? Or might a bit of a shakeup — with the possibility that Ehlinger’s mobility might be appealing in a short stint relieving Nix — be in order? In this situation, the Broncos probably keep all three on the 53 unless a trade partner materializes for Stiddy.
And one (crazy) extra: If the Broncos win the Super Bowl, Sean Payton will publicly muse about retirement but find the allure of a potential dynasty too much to pass up
One of the more hilarious nuggets in Seth Wickersham’s opus on the Broncos’ postseason run was Payton saying he wants to outlast NFL commissioner Roger Goodell by at least a year, essentially just so he could say he did. But if Denver wins a Super Bowl, Payton will have little left to prove. His Hall of Fame bona fides will be beyond doubt. There would be a post-Super Bowl Sean McVay-esque ‘will he or won’t he’ period fueled by Payton himself. Ultimately, though, the bet here is he’d decide he was about to win three more in the next four years.
Luca Evans’ takes
No. 1. The Broncos start the season 0-3, Myles Garrett sacks Bo Nix at least twice in Week 3, Sean Payton slowly inserts himself back into play-calling duties, and the Webb-Payton hybrid brain trust rides to a top-10 offensive finish.
Is the 31-year-old Davis Webb built to handle the natural ups and downs of his first full NFL season as a play-caller? Yes, if you ask him. Will the notoriously hyperactive 62-year-old Payton give him the full leeway to work through the bumps, in literally the first time Payton has ever given up play-calling? Hard to see. I keep thinking back to a text I sent former Saints running back Deuce McAllister in February before Webb was officially given the keys, on whether he could actually see Payton making the move.
“Hey Luca nice to meet you,” McAllister wrote back. “Sean’s not giving up play calling.”
Of course, Payton did. That text was still indicative of how tightly the coach has gripped his offense over the years, as central to not only his NFL identity but his identity as a person at large. Payton’s Broncos teams have started the season 0-3, 1-2 and 1-2 in his Denver tenure; these Broncos will now face a healthy Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead on “Monday Night Football” to start the year, then come home to play a Jacksonville team that outplayed them last season, then play the arguable Super Bowl favorites in the Los Angeles Rams.
In this scenario, I think Payton quietly maneuvers for more play-calling influence after an early-season slump, a combination of tough love and natural acclimation steadies the ship, and a Webb-Payton hybrid attack puts the Broncos back in the playoffs as a middle-ish AFC seed.
No. 2. The Broncos trade Riley Moss by November’s trade deadline, and maybe sooner.
Moss has a near-perfect demeanor as Denver’s CB2 opposite Pat Surtain. But there is a wide set of factors working against his long-term staying power in Denver. Firstly, he’s a proven, productive cornerback who could hit free agency after 2026 and earn a few million more than the Broncos would be willing to pay him. Secondly, the Broncos may need to pick between an extension for him or nickel Ja’Quan McMillian, who’s arguably more valuable to coordinator Vance Joseph’s defensive system. Thirdly, the Broncos have 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron now likely set to compete with Moss at outside cornerback come training camp.
The Broncos are in a tricky spot here. If they start Moss, first-round pick Barron would likely play a reserve, situational role for the second year in a row. If they bench Moss, he will naturally lose trade value over the course of the year. The most logical option for the front office would be to either start Moss with the idea of moving him closer to the deadline or trade him sometime before the start of 2026.
No. 3. Rookie running back Jonah Coleman catches 40-plus passes in 2026.
This isn’t really that hot of a take. Third-string back Tyler Badie saw 31 targets last season, and Coleman will likely play more than Badie did. He caught a bunch of passes during the Broncos’ summer program and had 31 catches for 354 yards in 12 games at Washington last year. And despite the heavy involvement of RJ Harvey, Payton’s offenses have long featured two running backs in the passing game: think Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in 2013 (77 and 71 catches, respectively).
No. 4. Que Robinson racks up at least eight sacks.
Robinson is a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and finished with 1.5 sacks combined across the regular season and playoffs. There’s direct precedent here with the name ahead of Robinson on Denver’s depth chart: Nik Bonitto, a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and jumped from 1.5 sacks to eight in his second NFL season.
The Broncos already wanted to create more snaps for Robinson in 2026, and now face an uncertain situation at OLB, as starter Jonathon Cooper is facing a felony assault charge in Douglas County District Court that could lead to league discipline. Regardless of how Cooper’s legal process plays out, Robinson will see the field more in his second season and is poised to capitalize on snaps playing alongside Zach Allen and Denver’s interior pass-rushers.
No. 5. Payton convinces Taysom Hill to come out of semi-retirement midseason.
Payton loves his guys. Hill, a quarterback-turned-dzٳԲwho played a key part in Payton’s offenses late in his time in New Orleans, is one of his guys. He is also currently unsigned, and his NFL career might be over at 35 years old after a season averaging 3.3 yards per offensive touch with the Saints.
At least one interesting name seems to find its way into Payton’s locker room every season with depth necessities, though. Remember Marcedes Lewis last year? I have no idea what role Hill would play, or if he’d even get a snap in 2026. I’m just thinking it’ll happen.
And one crazy extra: Frank Crum accounts for at least three offensive touchdowns.
The world changed on Jan. 17, 2026, the day that reserve tackle Frank Crum became an eligible receiver. Crum’s goal-line touchdown in the Broncos’ wild-card win over the Bills was lost in the immediate emotion of Bo Nix’s season-ending injury, but should not be forgotten.
Payton loves gadget players, and the 6-foot-7-plus Crum is agile and versatile enough to legitimately handle a handful of short-yardage touches. Plus, longtime Payton ally John Morton gave him the idea for that Crum play, and Morton is now back permanently on staff. The cards are perfectly aligned for some Crum-mania.
