The Broncos’ return to the playoffs the past two seasons after a near-decade drought has unfolded for many reasons.
A hard culture and roster reset orchestrated by Sean Payton and George Paton. The arrival of quarterback Bo Nix. A top flight defense deployed by Vance Joseph. So on and so forth.
Decidedly not on the list? Denver’s early-season performance in those two seasons.
In fact, if the Broncos get off to a fast start in 2026, not only will it be impressive because of the brutal nature of the club’s first six games, but it will also be the first time such a thing has happened in Payton’s tenure here.
“I’m pretty sure we haven’t,” Payton said last month, knowing full well the numbers. “So I think thatap going to be important.”
Denver started 0-3 (and eventually 1-5) in 2023 before reeling off five straight wins. In 2024, the team lost its first two. Last year, a 1-2 start was followed immediately by an 11-game heater.
Payton overall is 4-7 in September as the Broncos’ coach. The good news? A 10-3 October mark that follows a career-long trend for Payton, who is 31-30 in September and 54-17 in October as a head coach.
Payton has tinkered with training camp, giving veteran players more frequent off days and eschewing joint practice with other teams altogether this summer.
The hope, of course, is that it all pays off with a faster start than in years past.
In that pursuit, there may be no more important position group on the roster than the Broncos’ offensive line.
Four of the five are going into their fourth season together and Luke Wattenberg enters his third year as the starting center. Payton likes to say that the offensive line is the one group that can permeate a team’s building. This group needs to do that and drive the bus early in the season, too.
The Broncos were among the most efficient teams running the football early in the season last year, but their production dropped off a cliff when J.K. Dobbins was injured in Week 10.
If the frontline can help Denver get back to running the football well out of the gate, that will not only make life easier on Nix, but it also opens up a world of possibilities for first-time play-caller Davis Webb.
“I’ve never been around somewhere thatap been about to be four straight years of basically the same offensive line,” Webb said recently. “Itap such a blessing because they’re good dudes, they’re coached well, they’re nasty, they take things personal. I think pass block-wise, they’ve been pretty consistent over the last few years and run-game wise, I think we’re trying to build on that consistency. Not saying itap been bad, but we can definitely be more consistent.
“Thatap a goal that we’ve tried to address this offseason. We’re just very blessed in all of our rooms that the offensive line’s been the most stationary. They’re the strength of our offense.”
They’re a key cog in helping to correct two of the trends Payton identified from last year that he’s harped on throughout the offseason — early-down efficiency and run game consistency, which go hand-in-hand.
“I think part of that was health last year when we lost J.K.,” Payton said. … “Per our run game, there’s some really good things I think that we’re doing. Then, ultimately, you kind of settle in on what type of run team you are relative to a zone scheme, a gap scheme and those types of things. So we certainly feel like we’re further along than we’ve been here in my three years, just with the depth in both (the running back and offensive line) groups.”
The Broncos have struggled to settle on one identity offensively in each season under Payton here. Thatap not to say they’ve been bad, but other than having a knack for finding ways to win close games, there hasn’t really been a set of core tenants around which the offense has been built schematically. Webb pointed to last year’s Los Angeles Rams, who eventually tilted toward heavy personnel and had success but took a few weeks to sort that out before leaning all the way into it.
There will be a learning curve, to be sure. The offensive line can make it shorter and easier to navigate if it comes out of the gate playing the way a group of veterans with years of experience together should be capable of.
“I think itap just the understanding of what techniques we’re trying to apply on which plays, which looks, which leverages,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Just kind of honing in on that. We had a pretty good grasp of all that before, and we’ve done it a long time together. Switching a couple of the techniques in and out depending on the scheme or the play or whatever it is, I think we’ve done a good job. Itap been a great camp.
“Our group is ready to go, and I’m excited to see where we can go as the season unfolds.”
