Parker, the Broncos finally did something! With Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton now our Nos. 1 and 2 receivers, how does the rest of the WR room look? Does Marvin Mims Jr. fill that joker role now that we can put him anywhere on the field? Do we turn Lil’Jordan Humphrey into a tight end?

— David Miller, Commerce City

Hey Parker, the Broncos finally made that big offseason splash trading for Jaylen Waddle. I’m assuming he’s taking the WR1 slot with Courtland Sutton shifting over to WR2. How does the rest of the WR room look now?

— Ryan K., Bennett

Hey David and Ryan, thanks for writing in and for the interesting questions about Denver’s new-look receiving group.

Waddle may well end up with more targets than Sutton in 2026, but there aren’t really set WR1, 2 and 3 roles like that. Guys align by position — Payton wants guys that can play multiple — and then, of course, there are primary options on every passing play. Payton refers to those as tags for certain players. There will undoubtedly be a ton of plays tagged for Waddle.

Perhaps one of the more exciting prospects for both Denver’s offensive coaching staff and for Waddle himself is the manner in which the Broncos will likely move him around. They see him as a guy who can play outside or in the slot.

What����ap interesting about Waddle, in particular, is that despite his diminutive stature, the Dolphins last year used him predominantly as an outside receiver. According to Next Gen Stats, 307 of his exactly 400 routes came after being lined up outside. In 17 games, Waddle lined up in the slot just 22.8% of the time and was targeted out of the slot 16 times.

It would be a surprise if those numbers held in Denver.

Not to say Waddle will be only a slot or even line up in the slot a majority of times — we don’t know yet what his usage will look like — but he’ll likely move around quite a bit.

For comparison, Courtland Sutton, who is about as prototype outside “X” receiver as there is, lined up in the slot more frequently (23.3%) in 2025 for Denver than Waddle did for Miami.

It may surprise some to see the Broncos’ pecking order for who played in the slot most frequently by routes run.

Pat Bryant led the way as a big, power slot, running 170 of his 301 routes from the slot (56.5%). Next came Troy Franklin at 200 out of 480 (41.7%). Lil’Jordan Humphrey (56 out of 174) was at 32.1%. Last but not least, Marvin Mims ran just 62 of his 270 routes from the slot (22.9%).

All of those players will see their roles impacted and one of them may not even be on the 2026 roster unless the Broncos decide to roll with six on their initial 53-man this summer.

Who exactly sees what changes to their roles is yet to be determined, but suffice it to say Sutton and Waddle will be on the field together a ton and then Payton, offensive coordinator Davis Webb, new receivers coach Ronald Curry and the rest of the staff will mix and match third and fourth guys based on situations, matchups and more.

We don’t know exactly how that����ap going to shake out, but we’re not the only ones. Mims himself spoke with Altitude after attending a recent Nuggets game and said he was “really surprised” by the trade. He spoke highly of Waddle and said he was excited to add another playmaker but also added, “It’s interesting to see how I’ll fit in in the offense.”

Marvin Mims tells his initial reaction to the Jaylen Waddle trade: "It really surprised me, bringing in a guy like that. … Offensively you always need more playmakers."

Also, "It's interesting to see how I'll fit in in the offense."

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

Parker, this question may take a longer explanation than you have room for in your column (which I enjoy reading by the way), but I’m curious about the Denver coaching staff. I just saw an article that shows Denver has 26 coaches on staff. I was surprised at the quantity but also the titles and even duplicated titles (quality control assistants for offense, defense and special teams). I was particularly surprised that Denver has an inside and outside linebacker coach, and then you see the various run and pass game coordinators. Is there any insight you can provide on how these guys all work together or coordinate their efforts?

Thanks for the consideration!

— F.J. O’Leary, Frisco, Texas

Hey F.J., thanks for writing in and good question.

The Broncos do indeed have a large coaching staff and, like most, there are a variety of titles. Most of the time, a coordinator title (think run game coordinator or defensive pass game coordinator) is a way of giving a coach a promotion — and a raise — to keep him in your building. They can also help you ward off attempts from other teams to interview your coaches, since a club can block an interview for a lateral move but not for a promotion. Sometimes those jobs also come with added responsibilities in meetings or on game day, but if a staff is already kind of in place, there’s not necessarily a major change. Last year, for example, Davis Webb was made the offensive passing game coordinator and Jim Leonhard the defensive passing game coordinator. They each said at different times that they had a little more responsibility, but it wasn’t like suddenly they were running meetings differently or had a completely different workflow during game weeks.

Now, of course, Webb is the offensive coordinator and Leonhard the DC for Buffalo. Denver rehired John Morton as the offensive PGC and Zach Strief is once again the offensive RGC. He still coaches the offensive line, though, along with Chris Morgan.

Quality control coaches may not have specific titles, but they mostly work with certain position groups. Todd Davis works with inside linebackers. Brian Neidermeyer worked a lot with outside linebackers last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the new trio of offensive QCs splits up. Previously, Logan Kilgore was a QC working with tight ends. Now he’s the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach.

As for the inside/outside linebacker split, that����ap because those groups have very different responsibilities and techniques. In many ways, OLBs are closer to defensive linemen than to inside linebackers.

����’s similar for corners and safeties. Leonhard was the PGC and defensive backs coach last year, but day to day on the practice field, he worked with the safeties, while Addison Lynch worked with the corners. Payton fired Lynch after the season.

The new-look group there is PGC Robert Livingston and defensive backs coach Doug Belk. We’ll see how they split up on-field coaching duties during practice.

With our re-signing of Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, who do you see covering tight ends as the roster looks now?

— Mark, Albuquerque, N.M.

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in. I see largely the same group covering tight ends as last year — Singleton, Strnad and Denver’s safeties. Nickel Ja’Quan McMillian or a cornerback, depending on the matchup.

There’s a narrative out there that Singleton and Strnad are bad in coverage. They might not be the best coverage linebackers in football, but I think — and, perhaps more pertinently, coaches and people in the building believe — that����ap overblown.

Denver played as much man coverage as anybody in football, but its defensive principles aren’t as simple as lining up across the board and running with the man you’re responsible for, no matter where he goes. Especially in the middle of the field, the Broncos play a lot of match-style coverage, hand-off players, etc. ����’s not as simple as seeing a tight end catch the ball and get tackled in pursuit by Singleton or Strnad and saying definitively that he had responsibility.

Again, this isn’t to say they’re the most dynamic cover linebackers in football. They’re not. But it����ap not as simple as saying they’re bad and can’t do the job, either.

Late in the season, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had a lot of insight into this. Here’s what he said:
“Our corners are really good players. …  Sometimes, in (offenses’) minds, their better matchups are with backers and safeties. They can control the leverage, which is smart. So we understand that.”

He said he likes to try to control tight ends and running backs by showing pressure looks that force them to think about blocking before going out on a route, referring to it as covering them using defensive structure. But he also acknowledged defenses can’t always do that and also that third downs, in particular, become prime time for targeting tight ends and backs.

“����’s tough to find tight ends, especially on first and second down. But on third downs, that����ap the matchup they want because they get the leverage they want. That����ap just football. ����’s always been that way for my defense. We understand that.”

With Jaylen Waddle on the roster, what’s the big target in the draft? An inside linebacker? A tight end? Do we trade back our second-round pick for most picks?

— Michael Smith, Denver

Hey Michael, great questions. I’m inclined to answer yes, yes and yes. Obviously if there’s a player the Broncos feel strongly about at No. 62, they’ll take him right there. By that time in the proceedings, though, if Denver has a clump of players graded similarly, trading back and recouping a selection or two makes a lot of sense.

����’s impossible to say from here who will be available at No.62, but if you’re talking about tight ends and linebackers, there figure to be multiple or several already gone at each position by the time the late second round rolls around. Beyond just the surefire first-rounders like linebacker Sonny Styles and tight end Kenyon Sadiq, it’d be a surprise if players like Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers, Georgia LB CJ Allen and Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez are still around as the 60s approach.

Given where the Broncos are roster-wise, you really can’t count them out from taking any position if they think the value is there. I’ll agree with you on tight end and linebacker as top needs and throw running back in the mix, too. They could use a young safety and could stand to add more young, cheap options on both lines as they plan for the future.

Parker, what do you think about running back Adam Randall out of Clemson? He’s a converted wide receiver and is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds.

— Eric Price, Altoona, Pa.

Hey Eric, thanks for writing in. He’s a really interesting prospect, that����ap for sure. Big guy who can really run. Not the most refined runner at this point, but given that he hasn’t been playing running back very long, he should have considerable development in front of him. Physically, it����ap an uncommon profile and not a type of back Sean Payton’s typically pursued, but if you think there’s a chance he turns into something special, it����ap worth considering later in the draft.

Overall, though, he’s a fun and interesting watch. I’m guessing there aren’t many guys his size with extensive kick return experience.

David Njoku is still available. We should sign him. We need more talent in our tight ends.

— Tom, Boulder

Hey Tom, thanks for writing in. Njoku is indeed still available. So far, we haven’t heard much about any substantial interest shown by the Broncos. That, of course, could change.

Njoku, at his best, certainly would upgrade Denver’s tight end room. Given where the group’s been collectively from a production standpoint the past couple of years, it would be hard to push back too much against such a move.

Njoku, though, hasn’t been at his best in the past two seasons. He’s missed 11 games in that stretch — six in 2024, five last year – and hasn’t come close to his 2024 output of 81 catches and 882 yards.

Njoku’s played predominantly in-line, meaning adding him would be more about Adam Trautman than about Evan Engram. Even in limited time the past two years, Njoku’s been a more dangerous receiver than Trautman. Trautman has been the better blocker by most metrics and Njoku would have a long way to go to catch up to Trautman’s knowledge of the offense and the implicit trust the coaching staff has in him.

Hey Parker, so I’m quite, um, whelmed by the Broncos’ moves on Day 1 of free agency. We need to get Bo Nix more weapons. George Pickens would be amazing, but I feel like that’s a pipe dream. Are we looking at Romeo Doubs, Calvin Austin III or Jauan Jennings? Dallas Goedert? How about Deebo Samuel? He seems like he’d fit that joker position for Sean Payton.

— Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, you’re certainly not the only one. It didn’t figure to be a spending bonanza for the Broncos, but even given what Sean Payton, George Paton and Greg Penner said earlier in the offseason, it����ap been a slow start.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean ineffective. They’ve retained a bunch of their own guys, which means they think their roster is in a good spot. ����’s good to have a group of players that you want back.

Still, this was the first time since George Paton became the general manager in 2021 that Denver didn’t sign at least one external free agent on Day 1. ����’s perfectly fair to say it����ap been slower than many expected.

The Broncos came out of the 2025 season recognizing they needed more offensive playmaking. They’ve retained tight ends Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins (along with Evan Engram) and, of course, have a two-year deal in place with running back J.K. Dobbins.

But if you thought you needed more playmaking and you retain the group you had, then conventional wisdom would be that you still need more playmaking.

Of course, if the Broncos get a full, healthy season from Dobbins, that issue is partially resolved. Dobbins ardently believes that����ap going to happen. He’s also never played a full season.

I agree with your assessment of weapons and the idea of adding a dangerous pass-catcher, whether a receiver or a tight end.

The issue: Where are you going to find one? Working through your list, George Pickens would indeed be massive, but now that he’s been franchise tagged, that would require trading Dallas a premium pick and then signing him to a massive extension. Romeo Doubs agreed to sign with New England on Tuesday. Denver had interest in him, but never felt like the favorites. Calvin Austin and Jauan Jennings are still available as of this writing. So, too, are Deebo Samuel and Dallas Goedert, though age is a factor with both of those guys.

Several of the other tight ends still available fit the Engram profile as a receiver-first move player, so doubling up there doesn’t quite square. I was intrigued by Cade Otton and Charlie Kolar for their all-around abilities — certainly some projection involved there, especially with Kolar — but Otton went back to Tampa Bay and Kolar got a strong deal at $8 million per year with the Los Angeles Chargers. There, he’ll play for Jim Harbaugh after playing for John Harbaugh in Baltimore.

Denver could see if Goedert, 31, has another productive year or two left in the tank. Maybe there’s a receiver still out there on the free agent market that they like.

At this point, it����ap also worth looking forward to the draft and considering the trade market.

At receiver, there have been persistent rumors about the availability of Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown, Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr., Miami’s Jaylen Waddle and others. Thomas makes the most sense from a money perspective, but I’ve heard they’re not actually interested in trading him and Tuesday afternoon, they seem to be reiterating that to national reporters. There had been back-and-forth reporting on that in recent days. Miami, similarly, has repeatedly said Waddle is a player to build around.

The combined acquisition cost and $29 million guaranteed for 2026 with Brown is a steep hill to climb for anybody and Payton and Paton have rarely carried two expensive receivers on their rosters.

On the draft front, it����ap a deeper receiver class than running back or tight end, but there are interesting players at all three positions. The search continues.

I’ve seen lots of WR draft and free-agent recommendations for the Broncos, but not much analysis of the type of WR they need. Is there a WR style you think the Broncos lack today and who would fit that need? For example, Courtland Sutton and Pat Bryant are big receivers capable of winning contested catches. Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin are speedsters who seem to lack shiftiness. To me, they lack shifty route runners. Who do you think could fill that need? Thanks!

— Chad, Austin

Hey Chad, thanks for writing and good question. Payton likes receivers that can play in multiple spots, but he also has specific roles that he wants filled.

Denver, the past couple of seasons, has waited until the later waves of free agency and then looked for bigger guys who can run and block. Payton often points back to Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem from his years in New Orleans as sort of the archetypes. The Broncos haven’t found that guy so far in Payton’s time in Denver.

Two years ago, they tried with Josh Reynolds. Last year, it was Trent Sherfield. Neither stuck a whole season. They could be in the market for a similar body type this year.

I agree with you that a pure route-runner would be a value add, too. Payton, though, doesn’t normally look for those smaller, shiftier players to operate in the slot. He likes big, power slots.

In my mind, then any search for a receiver is in one of two buckets: That big, physical player or a guy who elevates the room across the board. The former is maybe still out there in free agency. ����’s hard to see the latter being a free agent at this point, so a trade or the draft are more realistic routes.

����’s worth continuing to point out that Denver likes its receivers and has either spent a Day 2 pick, traded up or both in each of the past three drafts to select Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant.

It wouldn’t be a surprise at this point if they followed a similar path this spring, though let����ap not count them out at No. 30 overall in the draft, either.

Hi Parker, I’m amazed at all the new metrics and stats that are now available. I recently saw one that measured tight ends and missed blocks rates. It showed that some of the TEs I’ve seen linked to the Broncos, like Cade Otten was rated poorly. How does the Broncos staff use these advanced stats? Sean Payton seems like an old-school guy and might rely on feel or the eye test. Thanks.

— Gene Ryan, Green Valley, Ariz. (by way of Aurora)

Hey Gene, thanks for writing and great question. The amount of information out there these days is staggering. The stuff that����ap publicly available or accessible via subscription has changed a ton in the past few seasons. Now imagine what kinds of systems NFL teams are building.

This is one of the areas where artificial intelligence is booming in football, just like it is across any number of other industries. I was talking with a front office executive of another team at the combine last month about the ways in which they’re building models and tools in-house that can be used across football operations. It could be draft prep, pro scouting, salary cap management, film study or any number of other things.

The Broncos are working on all those kinds of things, too, like every team in football is.

Payton last year marveled at some of the stuff Denver’s technology could do. That will only continue to ramp up into the future and, I’d imagine, when the Broncos move into a new, state-of-the-art building this summer.

Having all of that at your fingertips might help you sniff out something you want to know about a player who has been playing in a different system. Can he move the way you want, even if he’s not moving the way you’d teach? Is he getting to where he needs to go and not finishing a block? Or can he not get there? Is he good only at certain things, or is he used only in certain ways? So on and so forth.

That����ap all good stuff, but the Broncos and other teams around the league also have to see it with their own eyes. Extra data is good, but teams aren’t going to commit to somebody based on analytics alone.

Hi Parker. Longtime subscriber and appreciator of the Post’s Broncos coverage. You guys do a fantastic job.

Thinking about the Broncos’ enviable secondary depth, I was wondering: if Denver extends Ja’Quan McMillian (they should) and also keeps Riley Moss, could Jahdae Barron be converted full-time to safety? Does he have the skillset to play there, for if/when Brandon Jones is let go after his contract expires?

— George, Seattle (Not a “12”)

Hey George, thanks for the nice note and for subscribing. We really appreciate it. Interesting question, too.

In the exact situation you outline, yeah, it����ap a possibility. The Broncos believe Jadhae Barron can play inside, outside or safety and do so at a high level.

From right here and right now, that doesn’t feel like the most likely scenario, but you never know.

There are several machinations in play when it comes to the Broncos’ secondary over the next year and they essentially count as good problems to have because Denver has quality depth that a lot of teams don’t.

The first step is McMillian. He’s on the tender now, so they can either extend him now or during the season or risk him hitting the free agent market next spring.

����’s a little early to say categorically that the Broncos have to choose between paying McMillian and Moss, but the way the roster is currently constructed and with a potential Bo Nix extension looming out there as early as the summer of 2027, it����ap reasonable to wonder if they can play with both corners, the nickel and at least one safety on big contracts long-term.

Nothing has to happen right away. They can keep everybody right where they are through this season if they want. But each move made in the secondary is going to have a ripple effect over the next few months.

A fascinating group to watch.

Who would you like to see us pick up in the offseason? I think we need more weapons for Bo Nix. We need a legit WR1 — I love Courtland Sutton, but he’s a WR2 — and a tight end because Evan Engram was underwhelming this year. Who’s out there that you’d like to see us get?

— Mark, Arvada

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in and getting us going for an offseason rendition of the mailbag.

The Broncos have a nearly full complement of draft picks — plus an extra fourth-rounder from New Orleans, which should hover just outside the top 100 — and a good amount of cap space to work with this offseason. They can create quite a bit more space based on extension decisions, potential roster trimming, restructuring and more.  The normal offseason house-cleaning stuff.

I’m not the only one who agrees with your assessment that the Broncos need more playmaking offensively. Left tackle Garett Bolles said it after the season and head coach Sean Payton acknowledged it in his own way after the season. He and general manager George Paton each continue to say they like the young talent they’ve got at receiver and running back, but each also said last week that Denver will look to upgrade anywhere possible.

All three of the offensive skill positions look in need of upgrade, whether that����ap development of players already on the roster or additions from the outside. In a perfect world, you’re talking about receivers Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant all taking big steps in 2026. Same for running back RJ Harvey in Year 2.

Realistically, though, Denver could stand to add external options at all three.

Pie in the sky, I’d put the order of impact this way: Top-flight, all-around TE first. Then a No. 1 receiver. Then, a high-quality running back.

The best tight ends in football make such a difference across an entire offense. Of course, a Brock Bowers or a Trey McBride can set the course for an entire passing game. Imagine what the Broncos offense would look like with George Kittle or one of last year’s first-rounders in Indianapolis’ Tyler Warren or Chicago’s Colston Loveland.

The rub, of course, is that recognizing the value of that player and finding him are two different matters entirely. Same goes for a top-flight receiver to pair with Sutton or a difference-making running back. At least in the backfield, the Broncos can entertain bringing J.K. Dobbins back, hope he stays healthy and then work on perhaps finding a new face to fill out the room.

Receiver-wise, Stefon Diggs has said the past couple of weeks that the Broncos almost landed him last offseason before he signed with New England. Denver reportedly checked on Miami’s Jaylen Waddle around the trade deadline. There will be trade speculation about Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown this offseason, along with perhaps a few others. The top of the free agent market is George Pickens — at least until he signs an extension with Dallas — and then players like Indianapolis’ Alec Pierce and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs, though of those three only Pickens is a true, proven No. 1.  The question for any player, naturally, is the acquisition cost in dollars, draft capital or both balanced against production and also whatever other baggage might come along with the player.

At tight end and receiver, the Broncos don’t need more bodies. They just need one real difference-maker at each. That can actually be the bigger challenge than finding several guys who fit into a mold or a role in the offense.

How will the field-goal decision be treated in Broncos history?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

None more vividly, likely, than by Payton himself. He said as much last week during his end-of-season news conference. The longtime head coach said he regrets the play-call more than the decision to go for it in the first place, but he didn’t exactly mount a big defense of his rationale for going for it, either.

Essentially, he sounded like he regretted both, but the play call more than the decision to keep his offense, led by his backup quarterback, on the field for a fourth-and-1 from New England’s 14-yard line and leading 7-0 early in the second quarter of the AFC title game, while knowing that snow was forecast to start before the game ended.

Anybody in the business, as long as Payton’s been in it, will have a long list of calls they regret. I’m not sure fans — or really anybody who’s not a coach — maybe realize just how acutely play-callers remember specific sequences and decisions. It can be with a Super Bowl berth in the balance or in Week 6 against Arizona. But obviously, the stakes do matter, and Payton sounded after the game and the following week like a guy who will remember that call and that decision forever.

Am I the only one who agrees with Sean Payton’s fourth-down call? The way I saw it at the time, even after the play failed, was that Payton showing the confidence in his players was worth more than three points in the fourth quarter. The Broncos have been winning in the fourth all year, so this looked like a good bet.

The only problem was that this game did not have a fourth quarter. The weather eliminated that.

— JoeBieg, Longmont

And yeah, the weather heavily impacted the game in the second half. Payton indicated it was worse than they thought it was going to be based on the forecasts they had at the time. But everybody knew snow was coming.

There is a huge disconnect between the thought that the Broncos have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, yet the rushing attack is so anemic and easily defended. Why is that?

— Mark, Centennial

Here’s what he said when asked about the running game, noting that he’d been in offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Zach Strief’s office since the season ended, talking about studying the run game this offseason.

“There’s probably a series of answers to that,” Payton said. .. “I feel like we’re far enough along with the RPOs and some of that, but when we want to run it under center and control a game — we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like. That’ll be an important study and with urgency. And then also with the runners, who are we asking (to do what?). Losing J.K., obviously, that was a tough loss. He brought a lot to the locker. More than you would know.

“But that’ll be one of the points of emphasis that I think that we research and look into heavily. I want to play from the gun, but I also will always want to play with a two-back or multiple tight end mindset and have that flexibility. It’s a good question. I think it’s one of the key things that we have to do this offseason.”

If you look just at the splits between how Denver ran the ball before Dobbins’ injury and after, it’d be easy to believe that the Broncos basically had a ball-carrier problem the second half of the season. Clearly, that����ap at least part of the equation, but Payton and company aren’t satisfied assuming that����ap the entire thing.

Payton’s always been a smorgasbord run game believer. He’ll incorporate inside zone, outside zone, power, duo, zone read, RPO, a smattering of QB-designed run. He’s never been one to hang his hat so extensively on one thing like much of the Shanahan tree builds around outside zone, for example. What Denver’s staff comes up with — and what newly promoted offensive coordinator Davis Webb believes in — will be a critical component to the offseason.

Hey Parker, going from jubilation to heartbreak in the span of 30 minutes feels like a wakeup call to me. Do you think, moving forward, Sean Payton will give his backup QBs more reps during the regular season? By more, I mean, SOME. It seems like a little bit of action when it matters would better prepare a team for worst-case scenarios like the Broncos are facing. I get that this was an odd season — with so many close games and come-from-behind wins, Nix didn’t get a lot of time to rest — but surely there were opportunities to get Stidham at least a few reps, no? Even an occasional down here and there? And not actual garbage time, but situations where the plays really matter? Is this a strategy that differs from coach to coach and team to team, or are the Broncos an outlier? What are the pros and cons of giving your backup QB real reps in situations that matter?

— Mark, Fort Atkinson, Wis.

Hey Mark, the short answer is no. Yeah, it would be great to get your backup quarterback some live work during the regular season, but almost nobody builds it into their plan for the regular season. A couple of series late in lopsided games can be a nice reward for your No. 2, but there’s just so little margin for error in the NFL that actively putting a player you’ve decided isn’t as good as your primary quarterback in the game for meaningful time is asking for trouble.

If football were like hoops or baseball, where the value of one game wasn’t so high, then sure. We see this all the time in those sports — a young pitcher who might be needed in the playoffs gets innings in August and September or bench players get extra work in the middle of the NBA season. Those scenarios can do two things: Get a role player comfortable ahead of a time when he might be needed and also take some workload off starters. That����ap just not the way it works in the NFL with only 17 regular-season games and the near-universal acceptance that everything comes down to tiny margins. The Broncos won the division about as comfortably as you’ll see this fall — though it took 11 one-score wins to do it — and even still the only reason they hosted the AFC Championship Game is that New England lost Week 1 to Las Vegas. The Raiders, of course, ended up with the worst record in football.

That could be the difference for a team making the playoffs or not in the future. We see those kinds of tiebreakers and close calls all the time. That more than anything is why teams try to keep their main guys fresh and healthy, but also play them until the moment the action no longer matters.

Hello Parker. Alex Singleton seems like a great guy/teammate, but he is a major liability in coverage. Dre Greenlaw, in my opinion, has not provided what we signed him to do. Mainly because he isn’t in the lineup on a consistent basis. Do you think middle linebacker is going to be an area to focus on in the draft or free agency? Secondly, why won’t Sean Payton get Evan Engram involved in the offense?! It blows my mind watching games every week and seeing the importance of tight ends. And we don’t use ours!

— Mike, La Jose, Pa.

Hey Mike, thanks for writing in. Inside linebacker is definitely one of the most interesting positions to watch for the Broncos this offseason. Greenlaw is under contract for two more years, though his contract is not prohibitive to get out of if Denver decides it wants to go in another direction. He was an impact player against the run, didn’t play a ton of coverage generally speaking and, of course, missed time with two different injuries over the course of the regular season.

Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad aren’t the best coverage linebackers in football, but not all of Denver’s issues in the middle of the field or against backs and tight ends were on them. In fact, I thought both played pretty well in that department over the second half of the season. Really, teams went after the Broncos’ safeties — Talanoa Hufanga in particular — after Brandon Jones was lost for the season due to a pectoral injury.

Singleton and Strnad both said after the season that they thought they played the best football of their respective careers and I don’t really disagree with them. They’ve both earned starter money going forward. If Cody Barton got $7 million per season last year in free agency, I think you could see either or both Singleton and Strnad push toward $10 million a year. Will one of them be back in Denver? Both, but not Greenlaw? None of the three? It seems like all options are on the table at the moment, though having all three back might be a stretch.

Remember, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will be back for the 2026 season and he’s got a high level of trust in Singleton. Strnad has called his defense, too, when Singleton missed a game in the middle of the season. Those things matter when Denver starts sifting through its roster.

Why does Riley Moss never look back for the ball? He is going to blindly run into someone, draw a flag, and cost us the game. How can Moss be better than Jahdae Barron?

— Eric, Nashville

Moss definitely became a lightning rod-type player over the course of the season, Eric. My take: Overall, he played really well and a handful of the pass interference penalties against him were really soft, but also his low moments were quite low. He’s a tough customer in coverage, but sometimes his technique abandons him down the field. He’s a physical tackler, but when it got away from him against Jacksonville, it happened multiple times that ruptured into big gains.

He was the most-targeted player in football (116) and allowed the fifth-lowest completion percentage among the top 20 targeted defensive backs. That����ap a pretty darn good body of work. But there is also plenty to clean up. A big part of Moss’ game is his ability to take tough moments in stride and play through them. That����ap part of why the Broncos trusted him with the tall task of playing opposite Pat Surtain II.

The Barron conversation is interesting. If the Broncos decide to extend Ja’Quan McMillian this offseason, then will Barron bump outside and compete with Moss? Moss is entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2026. Denver also has a talented cover man in Kris Abrams-Draine in a reserve role outside, too.

The Broncos have a lot to work through there, but not all of it has to happen this offseason, necessarily. ����’s a good problem to have, too, when you have more guys who can cover than spots to put them in. There aren’t many teams in the NFL that can say that.

Hi Parker, I’m concerned about Pat Bryant and how many injuries he’s been piling up of late. I get little things here and there, but concussions aren’t exactly great to accumulate. I had high hopes of him eventually becoming a stronger weapon for us, but I’m afraid his career may be cut short. What do you think?

— Ryan, Wheat Ridge

The real reason for this is to say that the most egregious thing the Broncos could do this season is to lose to the (gag) Patriots at home for the AFC championship. What must Sean Payton do to make up for the absence of Bo Nix?

— Fred Waiss, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Hey Fred, thanks as always for writing in from the homeland and thanks for getting us going on AFC Championship Game week. Pretty wild, huh?

Obviously, it����ap been an impactful few days in Denver with the Broncos advancing past Buffalo in the divisional round. That game alone had so many storylines and interesting things happening, then such a dramatic finish. Then it all took a backseat to the news that Bo Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle and is out for the season.

As for this coming weekend, I really don’t think the recipe is too complicated if you’re trying to find the path to victory for the Broncos. ����’s just a situation that’s easier said than done.

How can Sean Payton’s Broncos respond vs. Patriots after losing Bo Nix to fractured ankle? | Podcast

The game itself is about the basics: Turnover margin, red zone, third downs and the ground game. Win enough of those and the Broncos can be in good shape regardless of the quarterback spot. The Broncos were plus-4 in turnovers against the Bills, but went 1 of 3 in the red zone before the game-winning field goal, didn’t play well defensively on third downs, had the ball almost 12 minutes less and were outrushed 183 to 70. Still, you get a bunch of turnovers and a play like the one Ja’Quan McMillian made in overtime and you’re going to have a chance.

Denver’s defense is going to have to play really well. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has had a terrific season. His one big bugaboo has been ball security. Maye has put the ball on the ground 14 times, including four alone last week against Houston.

The Broncos have forced seven takeaways in their past two games and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto alone has three forced fumbles against QBs in that span.

Hey Parker, what can we expect from Jarrett Stidham on Sunday?

-- Kyle, Wheat Ridge

That is a great question and one I really don’t know the answer to.

We know Stidham’s smart and savvy and that, after three years in Payton’s system, he knows it like the back of his hand. We know Payton and the Broncos have actual, real confidence in him. We know he has confidence in himself and sees himself as a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL.

What a story it would be if he came out slinging it, played well and led Denver to the Super Bowl.

But, would you really be surprised -- or, frankly, could you really blame Stidham — if there were a feeling-out or nerves period early in the game? Maybe there won’t be. But it����ap going to be unlike any game Stidham’s played in over his pro career, that����ap for sure.

Stidham doesn’t have to go full 2017 Nick Foles and throw for 350 yards and three TDs as a backup in a conference championship game. But he must avoid committing a raft of turnovers and has to find a way to keep Denver’s offense moving with at least some consistency.

If he does those things, the Broncos will have a chance. Again, easier said than done.

Life-long Broncos fan here. I think VJ’s play-calling on Saturday was terrible. On almost every snap our corners were eight to 10 yards off the receivers. The Bills either scored or turned the ball over every time they had the ball (if I'm not mistaken). This allowed Josh Allen to have quick options, negating the blitz/pass rush. Why doesn’t he play more press coverage to allow more time for the pass rushers to get home? In the few instances where he did, they had success. In a game without Bo Nix, they’ll need to prevent our opponent from scoring much and an aggressive approach defensively may be warranted, would you agree? Thanks for the great content week after week.

-- Shep, Pleasanton, California (via Boulder)

I agree that Denver will have to be aggressive and play terrific defensively to win against New England on Sunday. I disagree on it being a terrible outing for Joseph against Buffalo. They obviously gave up some things against the run, but overall, they took the ball away five times -- a Payton demand from late in the season, remember — and made a bunch of plays.

Now, it was not the group’s most complete outing of the year. James Cook was the first guy to rush for 100-plus yards against Denver since Indy’s Jonathan Taylor in Week 2. The Broncos got worked on third and fourth down (11 of 16 total for the Bills) and Josh Allen put quite a scare into them down the stretch. But he’s also the reigning MVP and might be the best player on the planet at the moment.

The Broncos press and play man as much as anybody in football. That equation changes a bit when facing a team that����ap much more dangerous at tight end and running back than at receiver, which is a unique setup the Bills currently feature. In some ways, it����ap a much more typical matchup on Sunday, but also a really tough one. New England’s got a pair of good receivers in Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte, Hunter Henry (60 catches for 768 yards and 7 TDs) at tight end and a pair of quality backs in TreVeyon Henderson and Rahmondre Stevenson. Oh, and an MVP candidate at quarterback in Drake Maye.

Hi Parker, first of all, good year writing the mailbag. It's what I look forward to reading the most. Too bad about Bo Nix, huh? He is the heart and soul of this team. I hate to stay on the dark side, but what do you think about Vance Joseph being fired if he doesn't get a head coaching gig? It's been the same story year after year of his defense tailing off toward the end of the season. Payton seems to be frustrated with him on the sidelines from time to time, and the Bills certainly had their way with them except for the turnovers. Can you see that happening?

-- Joe, Aurora

Hey thanks, Joe, appreciate the kind note. Thanks! The age-old question when it comes to coaches is this: Who are you going to get that����ap better? Joseph’s past two years in Denver are among the best in football, he’s universally respected and just about every team that is in the market for a head coach wants to talk with him.

Sure, there are areas where the Broncos can try to improve and late-season performance is on the list, but man, if Joseph doesn’t get a head coaching job, Denver should be jumping for joy that he’d be back for another season.

Granted, it was one preseason game. The play calling result by QB coach Davis Webb was remarkable and in sharp contrast to Sean Payton in general and most notable against the KC and LV junior varsities.

Question: Is it possible that Payton's ego would conclude that the offense would be more productive and consistent with QB coach play-calling?

-- Pepe, Lamar

Hey Pepe, thanks for writing in and the interesting question. The short version is it����ap just really difficult to imagine Payton actually giving up play-calling any time soon. Nothing’s impossible, but it����ap so intrinsically part of his job and also is, seemingly, among his favorite parts of it.

As for Webb, yeah, his one go at it in the preseason was awfully pretty. It was also the preseason. There are no stakes. ����’s not similar to anything in the regular season. Payton wasn’t happy with how the Broncos performed -- or how he did -- the last two weeks of the season, but they were trying to secure a division title and then the No. 1 seed. That����ap altogether a different situation than anything in August, regardless of how depleted Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers were.

I thought in Week 18 it looked as though Webb was sticking even closer to Payton than usual and was maybe a little more in shadowing mode, but also heard through and after the game that there was nothing specifically different about the Broncos’ operations that day.

Is there a world in which Payton wins a second career Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, becomes the first coach ever to do so and hands off the playsheet to Webb? I doubt that for several reasons at this point, but can’t say it����ap impossible.

The reality here, though, is that it����ap just going to be difficult for Denver to keep Webb around much longer, even though he raves about his job and loves working with Bo Nix and company. A head coaching gig isn’t impossible, and if he doesn’t get one of those, then somebody will probably be interested in having him call plays.

Remember, the only time you can block a coach from taking an interview is if it����ap a lateral move. The Broncos could promote Webb again to offensive coordinator -- of course, they already have an OC in Joe Lombardi who has deep ties with Payton -- but even then, a play-calling job is considered a promotion from there.

Hi Parker, it seems as though every coach in the US, both college and pro, cover their mouths when they're talking, Payton doesn't. Is there any way that the opposing team can read his lips and know what is coming, or is covering your mouth when talking way overrated?

-- Randy B., Fort Collins

Hey Randy,  thanks for writing in and for the good question. I think it����ap overrated. Are there some situations where maybe something could be captured? Probably. But in time for somebody to decode it, relay it to the defense and then adjust before a snap? Seems unlikely.

Also, Payton’s playbook is notoriously wordy, so the idea that you’re going to correctly nail 15, 18, 20-plus words as he’s saying them would be pretty impressive. Not sure even Connor Stallions could pull that off.

Another thought that popped in my head: Payton has a reputation for sometimes being a little chaotic on the headset. During training camp in the summer of 2024, Denver offensive coaches and Nix joked about moving from hearing OC Joe Lombardi’s calm demeanor in the headset during training camp practices -- Lombardi would radio them to Nix while Payton ran practice -- to hearing Payton on the headset on game days for the first time.

Would certainly be fun to hear what that sounds like.

Payton’s been asked multiple times since arriving in Denver about instances in which his playsheet has been shown clearly on television broadcasts. One in 2023 was clear enough that one of his former players, Tommy Stevens, later told The Post he saw it and thought, “that looks familiar.”

All to say if Payton thought anything along the lines of covering his mouth or his playsheet would actually provide a benefit, he’d do it.

Hello, Parker. Don't know when the next mailbag will be, but hopefully the Broncos are still playing when it happens. Regarding the roster, the most obvious area of need, I believe, is at the skill positions. I know Payton caught lightning in a bottle in New Orleans with some low-round picks, but so far, he has found exactly no stars by refusing to spend early-round draft capital on a WR. I know he believes he can turn guys into stars, but now that the roster has such depth in other areas, will he finally address this issue? Tell me, Parker, will Payton finally chase elite talent at WR

-- David, Charlotte

Hey David, thanks for the note and good question. You got your wish. The next mailbag is here and the Broncos are indeed still playing.

Receiver will definitely be an interesting position to watch this offseason. Denver has a bunch that they like and don’t have one that����ap truly across-the-board elite. Courtland Sutton, of course, is undeniably elite on third down and in the red zone and he’s a foundational player for the Broncos.

In terms of drafting one early, we know Denver will pick no earlier than No. 29 in the first round, so you’re still talking about having to hit on somebody who goes into the draft without sure-fire, superstar billing. Every team would love to find a Puka Nacua in the fifth round or and Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth. There are good receivers up and down the draft board, but you’re more likely to find a really good one early.

This regular season, 19 receivers hit 1,000 yards. That����ap not an easy translation to “elite,” but it����ap an easy cutoff. Of them, nine were selected in the first round. Five more, including Sutton, were second-rounders. Then Nico Collins and Michael Wilson in the third round, St. Brown in the fourth and Nacua and Stefon Diggs in the fifth.

Haven’t really started to dig much into offseason stuff yet, but receiver will be among several interesting spots for Denver through the winter and spring. I also wouldn’t expect Payton and general manager George Paton to veer too much from what����ap worked, which is continually bolstering the line of scrimmage, the edge and the secondary.

Hi Parker, do you think Sean Payton is holding anything back offensively that he’s waiting to unleash in the playoffs? It just seems like against lesser opponents, they don’t try to be as dynamic as they can. Thanks.

— Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.

Hey Brandon, thanks for writing in and getting us going this week.

At the basic level, no, I don’t think Sean Payton and the Broncos offensive coaching staff is sitting on some big, secret set of plays that they’ve just been waiting to unveil.

There is obviously nuance in the conversation about how the final two games went against backup quarterbacks. Then throw in two games against the Raiders and half of their final eight felt like kind of ugly, vanilla slugfests.

Broncos vs. Bills: Setting up Denver’s first home playoff game in a decade | Podcast

First, here’s what Payton himself said when asked if they played intentionally basic on offense over the final two weeks of the regular season against the Chris Oladokun-led Kansas City and the Trey Lance-led Chargers.

“I’d like to say that, but honestly, you guys know me well enough,” Payton said. “We’re going to have to play better. I’d love to say that we pulled a bunch back, but the tape from last week wasn’t really good offensively. It wasn’t great at Kansas City either. It was good enough to win that game. We have to be sharper as we get to these next few games here. We’re going to see good teams that can score, and we’re going to see (quality) defenses.”

Now, there’s a difference between holding things back and understanding what it����ap going to take to win a game. If you tell Bo Nix and the offense, “the only way Oladokun is beating us is if we turn the ball over a bunch,” that might lead to more conservative decision-making in terms of trying to push the ball down the field, throwing into coverage, so on and so forth. It might lead to a slightly different posture in two-minute scenarios or deciding what to do on fourth downs.

As for the postseason, Payton on Friday very much wanted to say that Denver would be much more aggressive going forward, but even then, he’s so matchup-driven that he still couched his answer.

“Do I think (Nix) needs to be more aggressive going downfield in the playoffs? A lot of that would be based on who we’re playing,” Payton said. “We want to be aggressive. We obviously want to -- we will take our shots. But a lot of it is, tell me the opponent and then it����ap, ‘All right, tell me how that����ap going to be done? Are they a zone team, or are they a man team? We’ll definitely stretch the ball down the field.

“We feel like we have some guys that can go down and get it. We’ll be aggressive in how we call these games.”

That����ap a long way of saying that the Broncos didn’t have to take much risk to win their final two games. In fact, they saw that risk as unnecessary.

The question is whether they can flip the switch and effectively attack Buffalo. Another version of the question: If the Bills play Denver top-down and try to force Nix into the kind of dink-and-dunk outings that popped up several times in the second half of the season, are the Broncos comfortable playing that way? Or will they feel the need to push the envelope and dial the risk meter up?

Was Sean Payton holding back the last few weeks of the season on offense? We were able to put together some long, methodical drives but finding the end zone seemed to be an issue. I know the offense isn't the most dynamic, but it seemed like we weren't going all out against the Chiefs and the Raiders. What do you think?

--Sam T., Grand Junction

Hey Sam, basically got to most of this in the above question, but your red zone point here is a good one. In the win at Las Vegas, Payton and Nix were happy with the three mega drives that ended in two touchdowns and a field goal.

The final two weeks would have looked and likely felt a little different had similarly bruising, methodical drives hit paydirt.

In the final two games of the regular season, Denver had four drives of 8:02 or longer that all went to the opponent's 11-yard line or deeper. They resulted in three field goals and a touchdown.

The wild card games are a good reminder: So much of the NFL -- and particularly in the postseason -- is about the red zone and third downs.

When Bo Nix scrambles (and I mean pretty far from the original line of scrimmage), he carries the football with his grip still on the laces and away from him, like he's ready to throw a pass. I get it when you're at the line of scrimmage, but as soon as you're 5 yards clear, you better be tucking the ball in a traditional running back mode, or someone soon is going to knock it out of your hands. Have you noticed?

-- David S., North Charleston, S.C.

Hey David, good observations. Nix does indeed do that. It seems as though he’s got a pretty good feel for when he needs to put the ball away and protect it. He doesn’t go gallivanting through the middle of the field with the ball hanging out loose in one hand.  Most of the time, when he keeps something like his normal throwing grip on the ball, it����ap when he’s out near the sideline and headed out of bounds.

Ball security has never been an issue for Nix. In fact, he’s put it on the ground twice this year -- one lost -- and that was his first lost fumble since his days at Auburn. He didn’t fumble his rookie season or either of his two years at Oregon.

This season, he had a ball knocked away in the pocket and had one bad exchange with running back Jaleel McLaughlin.

So, he’s quite literally not had an issue with open-field ball-handling in at least the past four seasons. Of course, it only takes once to change a playoff game.

Hi Parker, is there any chance Bronco’s ownership pays Vance Joseph as one of the highest-paid coordinators in order to keep him from moving to a head coaching position? Would this work?

-- Kevin, Pueblo

Hey Kevin, Joseph is well paid as it is, but the choice for Joseph isn’t really about money. ����’s about whether he wants to be a head coach again. Joseph has said, clearly, multiple times and on the record, that he does. Now, that doesn’t mean, necessarily, that he should or will jump at any job that comes up. Payton talked on Friday about advising his staff to consider the quality of job opportunities as they come up. Joseph has been on the head coaching interview circuit for two seasons now and he’s talked with a bunch of teams already in preliminary fashion this week.

He can be picky, but there are now nine openings. ����’s difficult to imagine a better set of circumstances for trying to find a second head coaching gig.

What's going on with Drew Sanders? I saw he was designated for a return. Is he going to play for us this week?

-- Matt S., Wheat Ridge

Hey Matt, thanks for writing and good question. The short answer: Sanders probably will not play this week. Beyond that? We'll see.

����’s just been a really long time since he’s been on the field in any capacity. A Saturday walk-through was his first time on the practice field since July. He still hasn’t tackled anybody in that span and hasn’t played in a game for a year.

The way the injured reserve rules work is he’s got up to 21 days to practice before the Broncos have to decide on whether to return him to the 53-man roster.

That means Denver doesn’t have to decide on his roster spot until after a potential AFC Championship Game.

Basically, he can get up to three weeks of work in and then, if the Broncos are playing in the Super Bowl, they can decide whether to activate him.

If Denver did activate him, then he’d count against the 53-man roster. In that scenario, you’d be saying he’s going to be an upgrade over a guy who has played special teams and/or backed up at linebacker previously, like, say, Karene Reid or Jordan Turner. At this point, that seems unlikely, but not impossible.

Hello from Finland! Who are your favorite draft prospects for the Broncos that fans should monitor? Drop some names, please. A tight end, perhaps? What about free agents?

-- Jude, Lahti, Finland

Jude, thanks as always for writing. Funny thing about a postseason run: It causes a delay in really diving into things like the draft and free agency.

You’re right about tight end being a need. In terms of the draft class, Oregon’s is considered a likely first-rounder, but there aren’t the kind of no-doubters in this class like there were last year in Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren.

I like Ohio State TE and Vanderbilt����ap is interesting, too. ����’s too early to talk free agency because there will certainly be players who end up re-signing with their current teams before mid-March arrives. Obviously, Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts broke out this year, catching 88 balls for 928 yards and five touchdowns. He hadn’t approached those numbers since his rookie season. If he hits the market, he’ll have suitors, but he’s the kind of pass-catching weapon the Broncos are still lacking. Payton and general manager George Paton have long been bullish about their receiving corps, but there are a couple of prospective free agents that are interesting, at least on the surface level, in Green Bay's Romeo Doubs and Indianapolis' Alec Pierce.

Early impressions on the draft class overall: There are a bunch of defensive players that would be interesting late in the first round. If you’re looking for a very early list of Denver needs, let����ap say tight end, defensive line, linebacker, safety and wide receiver. Not all critical, but all positions the Broncos could conceivably target early in the draft -- and you can never count Payton and Paton out when it comes to corners and tackles.

Would you report on win/loss records of sophomore NFL quarterbacks?

— Jim Taylor, Littleton

What’s the fun in just talking win-loss record?

Matter of fact, we wrote a while back about the impressive seasons several of the quarterbacks from the 2024 class have engineered and, more broadly, how impressive the group has been through two seasons.

Consider that three of the top four seeds in the playoffs are led by 2024 QBs — No. 1 Denver (Bo Nix) and No. 2 New England (Drake Maye) in the AFC and No. 2 Chicago (Caleb Williams) in the NFC.

Let����ap start by pointing out that wins are a team stat, not a quarterback stat. A quarterback can play magnificently in a loss and horrendously in a win. Nix is no exception. The Broncos have lost four games in which he posted a quarterback rating above 106 and won six times when he sported a quarterback rating below 70.

One of the great things about this class is that nobody’s path has been entirely linear. Nix clearly walked into the most stable situation and he’s taken advantage of it, helping the Broncos qualify for the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. That includes a 14-3 regular season and the No. 1 seed this year. He also didn’t take a big statistical leap in his second season, whereas Williams and Maye each did.

Maye has by far the best single season of the class so far. He could well win the MVP this year. Williams took a massive leap in Year 2 and forms a formidable long-term pairing with coach Ben Johnson. Daniels had a Year 2 to forget due to injury, but he looked like a star as a rookie and helped lead Washington to the NFC Championship Game.

The jury is out on Michael Penix and J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy was the youngest of the group to begin with and then lost his rookie season to injury, but 2025 provided reason for concern. Penix now will have a new head coach and, presumably, coordinator going forward after Raheem Morris was fired this week. He’s already the third quarterback in the class to experience a head coaching change and you can throw Daniels in the mix, too, because offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is leaving the Commanders.

Change worked wonders for Williams and Maye. We’ll see with Penix.

Here’s a chart with several stats, though obviously not an entire encapsulation, for the 2024 class so far. Judge for yourself. If the draft were held again tomorrow, a lot of folks around the league would bet Maye, Daniels and Williams all still get picked before Nix. But Nix isn’t going sixth again, either.

Bottom line: Four of the six teams that took quarterbacks in 2024 are very happy with their guy through two seasons. That’s already a heck of a class.

Class of 2024 QBs

Hello Parker. Whew, it’s been an amazing ride when one recalls where ����apountry stood four years ago. Heading to the playoffs, I can’t help but wonder if giving more touches (and more consecutive touches) to Jaleel McLaughlin would help improve our running game production. For several games now, he seems to be able to pick up more yards in tight spaces than we’re seeing from RJ Harvey.

— Ted Loehr, Montrose

I wrote about this some after the game, so I won’t spend a whole lot of time on it, but the bottom line is I agree with you.

McLaughlin’s up to 5.1 yards per carry and the Broncos coaching staff on a near weekly basis comments on how good he’s been since J.K. Dobbins’ injury. You lose a bit of the homerun threat when he’s in the game compared to Harvey, but right now McLaughlin’s getting the yards that are there to be had in the run game at a more efficient clip.

Here’s the trick, though: Harvey is really good with the ball in space. So can Denver dial up McLaughlin’s usage in the run game, continue to get Harvey some touches out of the backfield and in the passing game and find the balance without being predictable? That����ap the question.

While RJ Harvey has had a productive rookie season, it seems to me he is not a No. 1 back who can carry the load, primarily, I believe, because of his size. It’s been more obvious since he’s become the primary back that when he gets to the second level, he gets absolutely hammered by LBs, and stopped dead or knocked backward. He’s not a pile mover. So, while he clearly has a lot of value in the Payton system, don’t the Broncos still need a true No. 1 back with more tackle-breaking ability?

— Dave, Charlotte, N.C.

Completely agree that Harvey is not a finished product, but have to disagree with you on the rationale.

In fact, I’d say Harvey has the most make-you-miss ability among Denver backs in at least in the past handful of seasons. He’s also forceful and violent when he’s decisive. Decision-making, though, is where the rookie still has a lot of developing to do. Nearly every time the Broncos get him the ball out in space, he delivers a hit or makes somebody miss and collects extra yardage. But when he’s asked to make the run-game reads in the backfield, it����ap hit and miss. If you’re in the wrong gap or hesitating, yeah, you’re going to get thumped.

Payton’s scouting on running backs is interesting but it makes sense to me. He differentiates between short and small. Harvey is short, but he ain’t small.

Another way Payton puts it: You’ve got to have mass and, uh, rump. Harvey’s built that way. He’s explosive. He’s just not efficient in the whole spectrum of the running game yet.

Whether he’s a true lead back, capable of playing on all three downs, is still an open question. He’s talented, though, that����ap for sure.

Everyone always says how difficult Sean Payton offense is, but yet how come Bo Nix doesn’t need to wear a cheat sheet on his wrist like most QBs do? Is Bo Nix that smart that he has memorized the plays that he hears in the helmet from Sean Payton?

— Mike, St. Louis, Mo.

Hey Mike, good question. Nix wore a wrist band last year, though he had it attached to his belt rather than actually wearing it on his wrist. He had it for the season opener back in September, too, but doesn’t appear to have used it since.

Quarterbacks and play callers use those wristbands for all kinds of reasons. With Payton and Nix, in particular, part of the rationale was to get some of Payton’s most wordy calls on the band so the coach could give short-hand to Nix, creating a couple of extra seconds for the quarterback to spit out a call that might be15 or 20 words long.

That only works, though, if the play-caller and the QB are both comfortable with it. If it����ap easier to repeat the words as you hear them in the headset or if it����ap easier for the coach to feel a rhythm by saying all the words, that just might work better.

Certainly, Nix’s command of the offense has grown, too.

This a follow-up question about the hit on Pat Bryant in the Jags game.  Your answer about the defenseless player rule was appreciated.  However, following the hit, I wondered about whether there are unwritten rules of football.  Down 14 points with 30 seconds left, the viciousness of the hit seemed more about injuring than winning a game that was already settled.  We regularly hear about the unwritten rules of baseball, hockey and basketball.  Do the Broncos owe Montaric Brown or another Jag at the next meeting?

— Shawn Thompson, Denver

Yeah, you could make that argument. But you could just as easily use the same rationale to argue that there’s no reason to put Bryant in that position in the first place. I’m not going to sit here and crush Nix after the fact — he was emotional on the field and said after the game that he felt like he was responsible. And while the sequence was not all on him, if you want to make an argument that the hit was unnecessary because of the game situation (and strip away the rulebook part of the conversation), then it����ap fair to wonder what good was going to come from throwing back across the middle under the same conditions.

At this point, chalk it up to a bad deal all around that Bryant was fortunate to come out the other side of in fairly good shape.

Now, as for the Broncos and Jaguars, between that hit, the “small market” stuff, Jacksonville being the lone team to win in Denver this year and the fact that both teams have been terrific overall, you don’t need to convince me that it would be one heck of an AFC Championship Game at Empower Field.

I don’t want to take away from Matthew Stafford or Drake Maye, but I think Justin Herbert should be getting a lot more consideration as MVP. After all, what would the Chargers be without him, and isn’t that the definition of MVP?

— Mark, Centennial

I hear what you’re saying but I’m not sure Herbert����ap numbers stack up with Stafford and Maye this year.

That takes nothing away, though, from the epic job Herbert did dragging the Chargers through the second half of the season. Their offensive line was battered and he got it, too. He got hit more than any quarterback in football. Broke his left hand. Just kept on playing and winning until Week 17 against Houston.

����’s a heck of a season. Not many quarterbacks could have done what he did. But it wasn’t MVP-level.

Josh Allen had a similar Superman run in Buffalo down the stretch. There were some incredible individual seasons across positions like San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey, Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cleveland DE Myles Garrett. You could make an argument in absentia for Green Bay edge Micah Parsons, whose torn ACL against Denver marked the exact moment at which the Packers’ defense went from among the league’s best to getting regularly shredded.

����’s going to be Maye or Stafford. Give me Maye by a hair.

Who do you think is the worst opponent for the Broncos in the divisional round? Personally, I’d hate to see Houston. They’re scorching hot right now. I really don’t want to see them.

— Max, Colorado Springs

Good question and a totally fair place to land on it yourself. The Texans haven’t lost since the last time they played Denver. That����ap nine straight since early November. The Texans’ defense is ferocious. They have offensive weapons, too, though their production on that side of the ball has been hit and miss, particularly situationally. Houston is 23rd in the NFL on third down and 30th in the red zone.

I know I just got done saying Herbert isn’t an MVP candidate, but I’d put the Chargers at the top of the list of tough matchups.

Consider this: Nix was pressured just 27.7% of the time last year. Houston got to him 38% of his drop-backs. That was third-most in a game on the season.

The most: Week 3 at the Chargers (43.8%). Second-most: 40.6% Week 18 against, you guessed it, the Chargers and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Khalil Mack didn’t play in either game. The Chargers sat OLB Tuli Tuipulotu (13 sacks) and S Derwin James — who made play after play in Week 3 — this past weekend.

And Herbert will be coming off a week’s rest.

There’s no such thing as an easy divisional round matchup, typically, but I agree with Post columnists Troy Renck and Sean Keeler that Pittsburgh looks like the most favorable matchup. After that, in order, let����ap go Houston, Buffalo and the Chargers

Is there a source to listen to a replay of the radio broadcast of Dave Logan’s Broncos gameday play-by-play?

— Mike, Arvada

The NFL doesn’t allow local radio broadcasters to repurpose full game replays, so unfortunately the answer is no. There are usually some clips floating around on the team’s social media and website.

Should Sean Payton win coach of the year?

And what����ap impressed you the most about this season?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Remember last year when several quarterbacks including Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow had all achieved statistical accomplishments that in history had always coincided with winning the MVP? That����ap kind of how this coach of the year race is.

Broncos coach Sean Payton is deserving of strong consideration. He took over a bad team and bad roster. From 5-12 in 2022, the Broncos in Payton’s three seasons went to eight wins, then 10, now 13 and counting. They’re one win from the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

But is Payton going to win coach of the year? He is not. In fact, I saw an odds board recently that didn’t even have him listed.

Mike Vrabel pulled a remarkable one-year turnaround in New England — 4-13 last year, 13-3 and division champs over Buffalo this year. Liam Coen is a rookie head coach in Jacksonville who got Trevor Lawrence back into form, has produced a dynamic, efficient offense and also overseen a big improvement defensively. Both of those clubs will likely fall just behind Denver for the No. 1 seed, but the turnarounds have happened faster and with first-year coaches. Similar story in the NFC, where Ben Johnson took Chicago from the basement to the top of one of the league’s toughest divisions as a rookie head coach. Mike Macdonald in Seattle’s done terrific work, too, engineering one of the league’s best defenses while OC Klint Kubiak is flying high with Sam Darnold at quarterback.

For my money, though, they should all finish as worthy contenders and also just behind Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.

The 49ers weathered an absolute barrage of injuries and haven’t just survived. They’ve thrived. The team’s won six straight and if they beat Seattle — no easy task — at home in Week 18, they’ll have the No. 1 seed in the NFC. That����ap a team that was long considered basically an afterthought in the toughest division in football behind the Seahawks and Rams. Instead, there’s at least a chance that Shanahan and company could play their final five games at Levi’s Stadium: Two to finish the regular season, two in the postseason after a first-round bye and then Super Bowl 60.

In a year where there are a handful of deserving coach of the year candidates, Payton very much included, give me Shanahan by a whisker.

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Our pass-rush duo of Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto seem to be average these past few weeks. They combined for a total of a half-sack between them. Is it just the long haul of the season wearing them out or are opposing offenses figuring out how to slow them down?

-- Marshall, Parker

The Broncos’ outside linebacker pair has definitely seen its collective output in the sack department decline in recent weeks. Bonitto has gone three straight games without a sack and Cooper has two half-sacks over the past seven games. So there might be something there, but we also have mitigating factors to consider.

The first is that Bonitto, in particular, is still generating pressure. He has 11, according to Next Gen Stats, over those three games without a sack. That comes out to an 18% pressure rate, which is elite in its own right and not far off his 19.4% pressure rate for the season.

Cooper is a slightly different story. He had three or more pressures in eight of Denver’s first 10 games and averaged 3.8 per game. Since then, he’s averaged 1.5 per game and has had two games without one. He had one pressure in 15 pass-rush attempts against the Chiefs.

Another factor to consider: The run of quarterbacks Denver has played. Payton made it clear Monday that he’s not concerned with sack numbers as much as whether the Broncos are playing to plan. In his mind, they have been. They’ve kept mobile quarterbacks mostly from hurting them outside the pocket this year.

����’s one of the things that makes Denver’s franchise record sack totals this year all the more impressive. They’ve done it without playing selfish football. Payton always says the worst place to be on the football field is behind the quarterback. Watch other games around the league and it����ap a common sight. The Broncos? Not so much. There was a rep against the Chiefs where John Franklin-Myers and Zach Allen were working in tandem and Allen just barely started to get too far up the field. He retraced, sprinted and got himself back in position to keep Chris Oladokun from finding room to run up the middle. That����ap playing to plan rather than for numbers.

At the same time, we know Bonitto acknowledged he wore down substantially late in the season last year. Cooper’s played a big workload. A couple of times in recent weeks, Denver has used a five-man OLB rotation to A) get rookie Que Robinson special teams work and B) take some workload off the top group. Denver has depth on the edge that rivals any in the NFL. They can put Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman or Robinson on the field and feel good against just about anybody.

It’ll be interesting to see how Sunday goes against the Chargers. The best thing Denver can possibly do is, obviously, win and get everybody a week off. If they can build a big lead early and get Bonitto and Cooper a little extra rest, all the better.

Will run game undermine Broncos without J.K. Dobbins?

Do you think the Chargers will sit their starters on Sunday? I know they're playing for seeding, but Justin Herbert could use a week to heal that broken bone in his left hand.

-- Trey Miller, Golden

Hey Trey, a good and timely question since Jim Harbaugh announced Monday that the Chargers will indeed not play Justin Herbert. One thought on that: Harbaugh said the players with the most bumps and bruises also won’t play. But when you sit your star quarterback, you are not going to put other key players in harm’s way. It just doesn’t make sense.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert, others won’t play vs. Broncos in Week 18

Why aren't the Broncos trying to sign John Franklin-Myers to an extension? He seems like a key piece to the defensive line and has been a real asset. Is it his wish to be a free agent next year?

-- Anthony, Venice, Fla.

The bottom line is it comes down to the notion that you can’t pay everybody. Could Denver technically afford to sign Franklin-Myers? They could probably figure it out, but it would likely come at the expense of another player, whether that����ap a free agent in the spring or somebody on the current roster.

One thing the Broncos’ front office has done is follow a plan. They didn’t just blindly rip off a bunch of in-house extensions over the past 18 months. They’ve done so with a blueprint in mind of who they’re paying, when they’re paying them and how it works in both the short term and in the longer-term as the club moves toward the day when paying Bo Nix enters the equation. That window opens after the 2026 season.

All of that is not to say that Denver couldn’t use Franklin-Myers well beyond this year. He’s a really good player. And it����ap not to say that there’s no risk in letting him walk. There is. Allen is the first to point out that it����ap no coincidence his production jumped when Franklin-Myers arrived. The key is being better positioned to push into the future without him than Denver was before he arrived in Denver.

Shouldn't there have been a "defenseless player" on the pass to Pat Bryant at the end of the Jags game?

-- Ross Mahoney, Northglenn

I think so, and I know plenty of people in the Broncos’ building think so. The NFL apparently does not. Jacksonville cornerback Montaric Brown, who made the hit, not only wasn’t penalized during the game but he wasn’t fined afterward.

There’s no doubt Bryant was in a defenseless position by the rule when contact was made with 31 seconds left in Denver's loss to Jacksonville that led to Bryant's brief hospitalization. He leapt high to try to reel in the pass and hadn’t even fully landed when Brown made contact.

Once a player is in a defenseless position, the defender can’t do any of the following: make forcible contact to the head/neck area, lower the head and make forcible contact with any part of his helmet to any part of the defenseless receiver or launch into a defenseless opponent.

Brown didn’t launch and didn’t appear to make forcible contact to the head/neck area (at least initially), but he did lower his helmet as he arrived on contact.

����’s fortunate that Bryant appears to be OK — at least to the extent that “only” having a concussion is OK.

It was an unnecessary play, an unnecessary throw and an unnecessary hit at the end of a game that was, for all intents and purposes, over.

Hi Parker, I've got a couple of questions for you.

1. Is it realistic to get J.K. Dobbins back for the divisional round of the playoffs?

2. How much are the passing offensive struggles Bo Nix being off target versus WRs dropping balls?

Thanks.

-- Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.

The divisional round feels a bit soon for Dobbins, but we don’t know exactly where the running back is in his recovery.

Here are four things we do know and have reported previously:

1) When Dobbins was first injured, a source close to him indicated the most likely way in which he’d play again this season were if the Broncos made the Super Bowl. That����ap, obviously, three full weeks after the divisional round.

2) Dobbins has been telling people in the building he thinks he can be back faster than that

3) Payton took a question about Drew Sanders a few weeks back and used it as an opportunity to suggest that Dobbins had a chance to be back sometime in the postseason, but didn’t say exactly what that meant

4) Dobbins was around the building last week, though reporters did not see him working on the side field during the one day that featured a viewing period before the Thursday night game.

If Dobbins is out there doing any semblance of practice work this week, that becomes quite a story. That����ap just an if. If the Broncos thought he’d be back by the divisional round, they might not return him to practice this week and instead try to stealth it through a potential bye week next week and then have him back on the practice field Wednesday of the divisional round. Those at this point, however, are just hypotheticals.

As to your second question, it����ap a bit of both. For my money, Nix has been a bit off the past two weeks after a month of being very accurate with the football.

Simultaneously, the Broncos have had issues with drops. ����’s just one stat, but Pro Football Reference has Courtland Sutton and Evan Engram tied for sixth-most in the NFL with 10 drops and RJ Harvey tied for 15th with six.

Overall, Pro Football Reference puts the dropped throw rate for Nix’s attempts at 7.5%, second-highest in the NFL behind only Trevor Lawrence (8.8%). Those two are far ahead of Patrick Mahomes in third at 5.7%.

That same site puts Nix right about league average in bad throw percentage at 15.5% (league average 16%), though his raw volume of bad throws is No. 4 because Nix is currently tied for the most pass attempts in the NFL with Dallas’ Dak Prescott at 589.

It’s great seeing the Chiefs dynasty (finally) crumble. Do you think they can reach the playoffs? Part of me wants to see us beat them properly in the postseason. But the other part of me wants to see them burn out at 6-11.

— Ron, Westminster

Hey Ron, thanks for writing in and getting us going this week.

Kansas City’s loss Sunday night against Houston was striking for two reasons.

First, practically speaking, it eliminated the Chiefs from the AFC West race, meaning the nine-year run is over and the division will have a new champion for the first time since 2015.

Moreover, it was the first time it really crossed my mind that they may not make the playoffs at all. Even seeing the group’s clear limitations and offensive line injuries and the lack of running game and the defensive regression and all the rest, I always just kind of figured they’d reel off four or five straight wins at some point and find a way into the dance.

Those odds look dim now. According to the , the Chiefs have just a 12% chance of making the playoffs. Even if they win their last four — which would include beating Denver and the Los Angeles Chargers — they’d only get to 47%. There are a bunch of teams in play for those Wild Card spots. The current division leaders are Denver, New England, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. Five more non-first-place teams show higher postseason odds than KC: Buffalo, Houston, the Chargers, Indianapolis, and Baltimore.

As for flaming out and going 6-11, it’d be hard to blame Broncos fans for taking some joy in that.  But consider the fact that each loss from here means a better draft pick for Kansas City. Perhaps 9-8 and left out of the postseason is the ultimate Broncos fan result for the dethroned division king.

Broncos focused on Chargers, ‘best seed possible’ in AFC after Chiefs eliminated from AFC West

Wondering why I never hear anything about Drew Sanders and his recovery. Do the Broncos plan on adding him to their active roster at any point this season?

-- John Bundy, Denver

I asked Sean Payton about the third-year, oft-injured linebacker a couple of weeks ago and he indicated that Denver does, indeed, still think he’s going to be back this season. The way Payton described the return timeline was fairly vague, but that����ap what they’re saying.

����’s obviously been a long road back for Sanders, who tore a tendon in his foot during training camp. The injury required surgery. At the time, Payton only said Sanders’ return timeline would be more than 4-6 weeks. Turns out, it����ap been four-plus months.

Sanders in recent weeks has been working out on the Broncos’ side field, so he’s mostly around the team.

Even when he does return, there’s an open question about just how effective he might be. Sanders, a third-round pick in 2023, has lost so much developmental time, but it����ap clear the type of athlete he is. Last year he missed all but four games due to a torn Achilles in the spring and then he sacked Justin Herbert on his first defensive snap of the season.

The first step is for Sanders to start practicing. Once his practice window opens, the Broncos will have 21 days to activate him to the roster. If he’s got a chance to play in the regular season, that step would be coming pretty soon.

Even then, it����ap not like a rotation spot is just begging to be taken. Sanders was back to inside linebacker during training camp before the injury. Right now, coordinator Vance Joseph is looking for ways to get some snaps for Justin Strnad, who is playing at a high level but stuck behind Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw. Sanders has played on the edge, too, but Denver’s got a deep room there and has a player in rookie Que Robinson whom the staff feels perfectly comfortable throwing on the field and yet most weeks there’s not a jersey for him.

Hello from wet and dark Finland! Is there any news about Ben Powers returning to the lineup? I think he would give a little boost to the run game.

-- Jude, Lahti, Finland

Yo Jude, thanks as always for writing. How does a 10-game Broncos heater do in adding some brightness to the cold, dark north this time of year?

Powers was indeed playing well when he tore his left bicep in early October and his return at the very least gives Denver options. If he jumps right back into form, you’re right, he could be a boost. The Broncos have an interesting call to make at left guard where Alex Palczewski has mostly played well in Powers’ absence. He might also be the longer-term answer there, though Powers is under contract for 2026 and is clearly a trusted, respected player in the building.

For the shorter run, though, Denver will be glad to have Powers back in the mix.

He’s been out on the side field working out and sources have indicated his recovery’s been on track throughout the process. Originally, he and the team were hoping for somewhere in the neighborhood of two months to 10 weeks. Two months from surgery arrived Saturday and 10 weeks is next Monday.

Again, no guarantee Powers returns to practice and is immediately back on the field, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise if his 21-day practice window opens soon.

Hey Parker, any reason why we have so few defensive takeaways? We only have 10 on the season and that's near the bottom of the league. I just find it fascinating considering our defense is so stout.

-- Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, that����ap a great question. Obviously, luck plays at least some factor. The Broncos defense has also had a whole raft of near interceptions -- a handful from safety Talanoa Hufanga, a pair (including overtime at Washington) from rookie Jahade Barron and others like linebacker Alex Singleton. A ball even hit one big Zach Allen paw on Sunday and somehow found its way to the turf.

I don’t know if there’s a correlation, but the Broncos are simultaneously a very sure tackling team and also a group that doesn’t knock the ball out a ton in the run of play.

Vance Joseph’s preferred style of play also matters. The Broncos play a ton of man and they leave their corners one-on-one as much or more than any team in football. That����ap worked very well for them, but it also means fewer players reading the quarterback’s eyes down-to-down and trying to make plays on the football. There isn’t always a safety to come over the top of a deep ball or snag an overthrow in the middle of the field because Denver more frequently than most has those guys covering, too, or pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

All of that said, 10 takeaways is still a low number. We’ll see if they can come up with a handful of big ones down the stretch.

Hey Parker, who do you think earns Pro Bowl honors this year? I feel like it'll be Nik Bonitto, Quinn Meinerz, Zach Allen, Pat Surtain II and Marvin Mims Jr.

-- Mark, Arvada

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in as always. Those all sound like good bets to me and I’d think there will be a couple more, too. When you win a ton of games, your players tend to get rewarded.

Perhaps safety Talanoa Hufanga? Fullback Adam Prentice will have a shot, especially if he keeps ripping off 18-yard gains on belly plays. Long snapper Mitch Fraboni could be in play, too. The guy, though, that makes the most sense to me outside your initial list is left tackle Garett Bolles. He’s playing great ball and is still a premier pass protector at 33 years old. He’s not just hanging on, either. He’s playing some of the best football of his career.

Not only that, but Bolles has never made a Pro Bowl. He struggled early in his career and, to the earlier point, he hasn’t played on true contending teams until last season and this one. But he’s an upper-echelon blindside protector on the team that����ap tied for the best record in football. He should be a Pro Bowler.

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I was stoked to see Garett Bolles as our nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year. Do you think he can eventually be a Broncos Ring of Famer? I've been so impressed with his career arc, going from reviled to one of the most dependable LTs in the league (to say nothing of his life's journey, which has been even more inspiring). Plus, he's an outstanding teammate and community champion to boot.

-- George, Seattle

Fully agreed on Bolles getting the Walter Payton Man of the Year nod for the second time in the past three seasons. He does outstanding and extensive work in the community and impacts several different groups of people -- particularly kids in the juvenile justice system and with speech apraxia. Not only that, but every time he talks about that work, you can tell how much it means to him. ����’s really impressive and not to be taken for granted.

As for the Ring of Fame, Bolles can certainly make it an interesting conversation. Start with the longevity. Bolles has started all 123 games he’s played for the Broncos. If he finishes off this regular season healthy, he’ll be at 127. That would give him a chance to crack the Broncos’ top 10 all-time for starts sometime in 2027. Obviously, that����ap still quite far off in the future and injuries are part of the sport, but Bolles is under contract through 2028 and if he keeps playing like he is now, there’s no reason to think he can’t keep it rolling for a while.

Of Denver’s current top 10 in all-time starts, eight are Ring of Famers. Most of the players on that top 10 also have hardware. Super Bowls, All-Pros, Pro Bowls, etc.

That����ap the part of Bolles’ ultimate on-field legacy in Denver that����ap still taking shape and part of what makes him a compelling figure in general. Team success matters a whole lot and he’s finally seeing it here in the eighth and ninth years of his NFL career. Most guys at 33 years old don’t have a ton of chances left, but Bolles is perhaps a bit of an exception there.

So, is it a finished resume? Probably not, but continued high-level play and, say, a Super Bowl ring somewhere along the way in the next couple of years and Bolles will have a strong case.

Broncos’ Garett Bolles gives thanks to — well, everyone — for Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination

 Who are your Broncos MVP candidates at the halfway point of the season?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Hey Ed, thanks for writing in and getting us going on this bye week mega mailbag. I haven’t done one in a while, so we’ve got a few catch-up questions here and a few that serve us well going into an off week and then the stretch run of six remaining games.

The Broncos, of course, are more than halfway through the season at this point, but it����ap still a natural time to look back a bit at what����ap got Sean Payton’s team to this point. They’re 9-2, winners of eight straight, in control of the AFC West and in position to contend for the No. 1 seed.

Let����ap go with one defensive MVP and one offensive MVP.

On defense, there are a number of worthy candidates. Pat Surtain II, of course, despite the fact Denver’s played well and won three straight in his absence. Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper — the former is a defensive player of the year frontrunner with 9.5 sacks, and the latter is playing the best ball of his career for about the fourth straight year. You could make an argument for safety Talanoa Hufanga, too, whose arrival this offseason has given Denver a forceful playmaker on the back end of the defense.

For this exercise, though, the defensive MVP so far is Zach Allen.

The Denver defensive tackle didn’t have a particularly productive opening few games as far as counting stats go, but he’s been a monster in the middle of the Broncos’ defense over the past two-plus months. He’s got 30 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Reference, which is nine more than anybody else in football. Bonitto is among three tied for second at 21.

He’s generated 24 pressures and five sacks since Week 5, one week after the start of Denver’s eight-game winning streak. And he’s putting up numbers despite playing significantly fewer snaps than a year ago. Allen’s not played more than 68.4% since Week 6 — he was at 79.1% or higher each of the first five games — which means he’s got a chance to be fresher for Denver’s stretch run.

The Broncos have depth at all three levels and have shown they can cover injuries across the board. Most impressive is the work done without Surtain. The linebacking group held up without Dre Greenlaw for several weeks and without Alex Singleton on Sunday. The front line missed Malcolm Roach early in the year but was still among the game’s best. They may be able to cover a short Allen absence, but he’s at or very near the top of the list of the most indispensable pieces to the puzzle. Allen signed a $106 million extension this summer and has been worth every penny so far.

Offensively, J.K. Dobbins might have gotten the nod before his injury earlier this month. Let����ap go with left tackle Garett Bolles.

The longest tenured Bronco is playing some of the best football at age 33. Bolles, according to Next Gen Stats, entered Sunday’s game against Kansas City allowing a pressure rate of just 4.8%, the lowest mark of any left tackle with more than 100 pass protection reps this year. Chiefs standout pass-rusher George Karlaftis, who primarily lines up over left tackles, was credited with four pressures off Denver’s left on Sunday, but two were in situations where Bolles blocked down and another was on a stunt inside against guard Alex Palczewski.

Bolles is one of two qualified left tackles in the NFL so far who have not been charged with a sack, per NGS.

Denver’s offensive line has been the most consistent part of its offense so far this season. Bo Nix has made fourth-quarter magic, Courtland Sutton is a third-down machine and Troy Franklin’s made a bunch of big plays through some inconsistent moments. Obviously, Dobbins was having a terrific year until he got hurt recently.

Hard to go wrong with a stalwart pass protector who’s playing at an elite level, though.

Do you think there’s a chance the Broncos sign a veteran running back (for example: Jamaal Williams) to assist with their end-of-season push to secure a No. 1 playoff seed?

— William Christensen, Orem, Utah

Hey William, thanks for writing in, and good question.

This is just the kind of situation the Broncos have had Jaleel McLaughlin ready for. If the Broncos can see some progress from rookie RJ Harvey, that can be a functional duo for the remainder of the season.

Then again, Denver clearly felt the need to add a veteran presence to the room this summer — that����ap why they signed Dobbins in June in the first place — and the depth would really be tested at this point with one more injury.

The Broncos have former Kansas State and Dallas running back Deuce Vaughn on their practice squad. Outside of another injury, a practice squad addition makes the most sense. To sign a player off another team’s practice squad, he must be on the active roster for at least three games. That would mean somebody is either inactive on gameday or taking a jersey from either McLaughlin or Tyler Badie, which doesn’t seem likely.

Here’s a list of backs who have worked out for teams over the past month, according to the NFL’s transaction wire: Israel Abanikanda, Raheem Blackshear, Montrell Johnson, ShunDerrick Powell, D’Enest Johnson, Tyrion Davis-Price, Evan Hull, Ian Wheeler, Rushawn Baker, Jonathan Ward, Jordan Waters.

The Broncos had Davis-Price, a 2022 third-round pick out of LSU, in for a workout earlier this season when they ultimately elected to sign Vaughn.

Any chance we see Deuce Vaughn on the active roster this year? He was such a fun back to watch at Kansas State. And when is Pat Surtain II coming back? Our secondary needs him.

— Mark, Arvada

Thanks for writing, as always, Mark. I appreciate that your questions are about a practice squad back and the reigning defensive player of the year. We’ve got the whole roster spectrum covered.

On Vaughn, he could be elevated, but as outlined above, likely only in the event of injury or massive underperformance. He’s been on the practice squad for long enough now, though, that he should have built himself a bit of a lead over somebody off the street should Denver decide to go that direction.

As for Surtain, it certainly felt all along like the Broncos were hoping and planning to have him back Nov. 30 against Washington. The bye week factored squarely into injured reserve consideration because it meant Surtain had nearly five full weeks from when he got hurt to that game. If he’s back for it, he’ll have only missed three.

Obviously, he’ll have to continue to make progress without setbacks, but it’d be a mild to moderate surprise if he’s not back out there next time Denver takes the field.

Getting back to the playoffs would be a big step for the all-around future of this franchise. That was what most of us were thinking right before the season started. Now, by the time the Chargers come to town, what do you think our expectations will be heading into late January if the Broncos have the playoffs locked up in Mile High?

— Race, Ogallala, Neb.

Hey Race, thanks for writing in. After the latest win over the Chiefs, Denver’s squarely in control of the division and in the mix for the AFC’s top seed. Here’s a quick rundown of various playoff odds from a pair of outlets.

The Athletic

Make playoffs: 97%

Win division: 76%

No. 1 seed: 23%

�����ʱ���

Make playoffs: 97%

Win division: 77%

No. 1 seed: 30%

Those give you a sense of the strong position the Broncos are currently in. The other main contenders for the No. 1 seed are New England and Indianapolis. The Patriots (9-2) have the easiest schedule remaining. The Colts (8-2) face a much tougher road, but they also have a head-to-head win over Denver in the bank. New England current shows the best odds of the top seed, according to The Athletic (46%), but ESPN has the Broncos’ 30% at the top of the heap with Indy (28%) and New England (25%) right behind.

So if you’re tracking that race, those teams plus 7-3 Buffalo are the top teams to watch at this point.

And if you’re winning your division and contending for the top seed, you’re clearly taking aim at the Super Bowl.

Ten penalties for 147 yards. How do you do that and still win? Coaching? Better practice routine? More classroom? Jeez.

— David Brown, Silverthorne

Riley Moss seems to have joined the former Garrett Bolles “refs are going to call literally everything against him” club. A bunch of marginal calls because of a “reputation,” at best, or a league conspiracy at worst. Thoughts?

– Dave G., Seattle

The Daves chime in with different but related questions.

Yes, Denver had 147 penalty yards against Kansas City, and yes, they’ve been way too penalty-prone this year. Sunday’s game comes with a bit of an asterisk because 86 of those yards came on two Riley Moss pass interference calls.

Take those away, and eight for 61 yards isn’t great, but the Broncos have had far worse outings.

The Moss interference calls, though, are definitely an issue. I won’t spend a ton of time getting into it because we covered the matter pretty thoroughly after the game. Still, I do think the reputation thing is real with Moss.

The 46-yard penalty in the fourth quarter was definitely interference. Moss said so himself. The first one… pretty ticky tack if you ask me. That����ap probably a fair summation of Moss’ season so far. He’s handsy, he’s physical and he’s going to get flagged sometimes. But has he earned nearly double the interference flags (nine) compared to anybody else in the league (nobody else has more than five)? That����ap a stretch.

I’m prefacing my question by noting that I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and about 10 years ago, Allen Craig, their best hitter at the time, suffered a Lisfranc injury that derailed his career. It didn’t help that the Cardinals were a championship-level team and they rushed him back for the playoffs even though he was compromised. All of this is context for asking what you know about J.K. Dobbins’ injury and whether the Broncos are confident he can come back from it after surgery, however long that might take.

— David, Charlotte, N.C.

Our run of Davids and Daves continues. Thanks for writing in!

We covered this pretty extensively in our postgame coverage. Lisfranc injuries are really tough to come back from, though it depends on the exact nature of the injury, and we don’t know that precisely with Dobbins. We know it required surgery, which means there was tearing in at least one of several ligaments around that joint that needed to be repaired for Dobbins to have the structural integrity needed to get back to playing.

The thing about Lisfranc injuries that����ap so tough, according to Dr. Nicholas Strasser, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon I talked to this week, is that not only can the recovery itself be tricky and long, but also that they, in some cases, lead to longer-term issues like arthritis.

The Broncos and Dobbins are each posturing as confident he can make a full recovery and get back to playing at a high level. A source told The Denver Post that Dobbins is hoping to play if Denver makes the Super Bowl in February.

The reality, of course, is that Dobbins is a free agent after the season since he signed a one-year deal back in June. So while there’s no need to rush to any kind of prediction about Dobbins’ future, the nature of the injury and his contractual status make it at least plausible that he’s played his final snap in Denver.

What are the chances the Broncos get flexed out of the Sunday night game on Nov. 30 against the Commanders?

— Kent H., Ventura, Calif.

Hey Kent, thanks for writing in and for the timely question. The answer, apparently, is 0%.

That decision would have had to have been made early this week, and it����ap been crickets from the league. Plus, former Post great Nicki Jhabvala — now covering Washington for The Athletic — reported Monday that the game wasn’t going to be flexed.

The Commanders are in a hard way at 3-8, and they may not have QB Jayden Daniels back by Nov. 30. But the rest of the options for flexing are limited — four of the matchups are locked into Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday — and the Broncos remain a strong draw.

So we’ll all channel the Commodores and get ready for the Nightshift out on the East Coast. But not before enjoying this bye week.

Hi Parker, my question is about Ja’Quan McMillian. He is a special talent, and I would love to see him in the orange and blue for many more years to come. Will we have enough money to pay him in the offseason?

— Tim, Fort Collins

Hey Tim, thanks for writing and great question. McMillian held the nickel job in camp over rookie Jahdae Barron and he’s played really well again this year. He’s one of the best in the league at a position that����ap A) difficult to find good players at, and B) is a premium position in the modern NFL.

McMillian’s also a heck of a bargain with a base salary of $1.03 million this year.

The Broncos have him under team control for the 2026 season because he’s just a restricted free agent. They’ll have to decide how high a tender to place on him, but they’ll have the ability to, at worst, match an offer sheet from another team. The second-round tender this year checked in at $5.346 million, so it will likely nudge higher in the spring. The first-round tender was $7.458 million. That would pretty obviously be enough to scare off other teams and a second-round tender might be, too. Or Denver could talk long-term extension with McMillian, too.

Either way, it����ap rarely smart business to part with talented young players, particularly at positions like corner/nickel. The Broncos have real depth with Barron, Kris Abrams-Draine and others. All the same, it’d be hard to believe McMillian ends up anything other than a no-doubt keeper.

I think our dream of having a 1,000-yard rusher this year is dashed with J.K. Dobbins’ injury. Do you think we’ll have a 1,000-yard receiver? Courtland Sutton is on pace for 1,003, but his production has been inconsistent this year. Maybe Bo Nix and Troy Franklin will finally click and have multiple deep bombs against someone.

— Mike, Denver

Mike, thanks for writing in. Magic 8 Ball says… No 1,000-yard receiver or rusher for Denver this year. We’ve all seen Sutton get on a heater before, so that����ap certainly possible. But also consider that, for the first time in a long time, there’s at least a chance Denver will have its playoff fortunes signed, sealed and delivered early.

Davis Webb is our QB coach and resident “quarterback whisperer” and is responsible for teaching our thrower the art of the passing game. Perhaps he should consider giving our Bo Nix some dancing lessons. His footwork wouldn’t last long on “DWTS.” Dance with me on this one, Parker!

— Areferee, Greeley

Hey Ref, thanks for writing in. I asked Sean Payton about this very topic recently, and here’s what he said about the work Nix and the quarterbacks get in during practice weeks. Obviously, it����ap difficult to make wholesale changes during the season — those are really only possible in the offseason — but prepping for DWTS is part of the weekly routine at Broncos Park.

“I think Davis does a great job,” Payton said Nov. 10. “There are times where, during portions of practice, they’ll work specifically on the left off of three-step (drop), left off of five, right off of three, right off of five, route specific.”

My question is one that will be asked by many: When will we get a competent effort from all phases of special teams? Is special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi the problem? The schemes? The personnel?

— David Brown, Silverthorne

Another one from David in Silverthorne! Thanks for writing. Ask and you shall receive. Sunday against Kansas City was by far the best performance of the year for Rizzi’s group.

Wil Lutz went 5 for 5, including a 54-yard game-tying field goal and the walk-off winner. The margin was only three points before Lutz’s long field goal because Frank Crum blocked an extra point. Marvin Mims Jr. had a 70-yard punt return. Rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw netted an average of 48 yards on four punts and put three inside the 20 with no touchbacks. The Broncos were a whopping plus-13 in average starting field position (own 35 compared to own 22 for Kansas City) and had a slight advantage in field position following kickoffs, too (own 30 to own 28).

Really, a terrific special teams outing across the board for the Broncos.

Can Dondrea Tillman switch over to Tight End already?! He seems like the only guy who has that TE juice! Please suggest it to Coach Payton.

— Jay Lav, Los Angeles

Hey Jay, great question. Matter of fact, Tillman played tight end in high school. A change may not be in the cards now — Payton did get asked about this and he gave a pretty generic answer — but Tillman’s certainly got a kick out of his newfound notoriety after two long interception returns this year.

Payton did have a good quip about it, saying of Tillman, “I think you’d have to block them all for him to score.”

Apprised of that comment last week, Tillman smiled and said, “Of course. If I’m running it back 90 yards I’m going to need some help.”

Does Sean Payton just really late bye weeks or is this just how the schedule shakes out? It wasn’t until Week 14 last year, and it’s Week 12 this year.

— Ryan, Denver

Hey Ryan, good question. Teams don’t get to choose when they have their bye week, so it����ap basically a coincidence Denver’s had a late one each of the past two years. You can ask to have your bye after an international game, but as the league expands its menu of games overseas each year, it����ap not possible to accommodate every team’s wishes on that front each year.

Payton has said previously that you’re usually looking for a bye somewhere in the middle of the season. I know some players this year felt even more taxed in recent weeks than last year’s Week 14 bye because of the placement of the Thursday night game.

Last year, the bye came really late, but Denver had the TNF game and subsequent mini bye in Week 7. This year, they had to wait until Week 10 before playing Las Vegas on a Thursday night. And that was the team’s seventh game in 38 days.

So, this bye week is well-timed and well-earned for the Broncos.

I’ve been watching football for a long time, and I cannot recall a QB who is so up and down. Bo Nix has so many terrible throws and a lot of great throws. Do you ever recall seeing a QB this inconsistent?

— Jay Lav, Los Angeles

Hey Jay, thanks for writing in and getting us going this week.

There’s certainly been an unevenness to the way Bo Nix has played so far in his second season. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it����ap the most inconsistent I’ve ever seen or anything like that.

Nix is still a young quarterback as it pertains to the NFL. He’s played in just 24 regular-season games. He’s still got a lot to see and learn.

Now, clearly, head coach Sean Payton put massive expectations on Nix’s shoulders when he predicted this summer that Nix would be among the top four or five quarterbacks in the NFL within the next two years. He said he didn’t believe in sophomore slumps, but he did believe in sophomore leaps.

So far this season, Nix hasn’t taken a statistical leap. A slight slump can be argued: Nix’s numbers through seven games compared to last year are down in categories like completion percentage, quarterback rating, yards per attempt, yards per completion, air yards per attempt and more.

Among qualified NFL passers, Nix currently ranks like this in the following categories:

Touchdowns: T-10 (11)

Yards: No. 11 (1,556)

Dropbacks: No. 4 (280)

Completion percentage: No. 24 (62.5%)

Completion percentage over expected: No. 27 (-2.9%)

Air yards per attempt: T-25 (7.2)

Deep %: No. 21 (9.8%)

According to Sumer Sports, Nix’s success rate of 41.06% is No. 29 among 34 quarterbacks with at least 100 snaps this year.

All of those numbers suggest it����ap been an up-and-down start to the year for Nix and that statistically he’s only in the upper half of the NFL in a handful of metrics.

There are a few reasons the inconsistency part of the equation might feel more pronounced this week. The first is pretty simple: Nix was tracking toward his worst outing of the season and one of the most disappointing of his career to date through three quarters Sunday, then in the final 15 minutes became the first player in NFL history to account for two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns in a quarter.

Along the way, he easily set a career high in pass attempts with 50 — his previous high was 42 — and a season low in completion percentage (54.9%). He had 14 incompletions on throws within 8 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Then there’s another wild stat from Pro Football Focus that adds to this: So far this season, when the Broncos are trailing, Nix has an adjusted completion percentage of 76.3% and has accounted for 1,044 total yards, 11 total touchdowns and no interceptions while playing to a 101.6 passer rating.

Broncos’ Sean Payton not considering play-calling change, but “there’s a lot” to fix offensively

Overall, it����ap just been a curious start. The Broncos didn’t trail in the fourth quarter of any of their first four games and still started 2-2 with a pair of walk-off losses. They’ve played long stretches of bad offensive football each of the past three weeks, trailed in the fourth quarter in all three games and won each of them.

Let����ap see what the numbers look like in a couple of weeks, but we have certainly not seen the kind of long, steady, productive stretch from Nix in Year 2 that he played in the middle of his rookie year.

Why can't Bo Nix perform the same way in the rest of the time that he did in the fourth quarter in almost every game we have played this season?

-- Jamie, Salida

Hey Jamie, thanks for the question, which is similar to the one above. He accounted for 174 passing yards, 46 rushing yards and four total touchdowns in the fourth quarter on Sunday, so if he did that every quarter, he’d be the greatest player of all time.

Of course, a slightly less literal answer to your question also includes many other parts. Here’s one: After the Giants went up 26-8 with 10:14 to go, they shifted into much more of a soft defensive approach. They gave up underneath throws and tried to keep the Broncos offense in front. That worked to a degree, as it took Denver 13 plays and 5:01 -- nearly half the remaining game — to get the first of three needed scores. Of course, in the process, Denver also got in rhythm and then got a huge play from Justin Strnad on the interception that set the offense up again quickly at the New York 19-yard line.

Suddenly, the pressure switched sides, the Broncos offense was in rhythm and the Giants had to go back to playing their normal defensive style -- but from their heels for the first time all the game.

Clearly, teams aren’t playing defense in that softer manner early in games or in most cases other than with big leads. So that����ap definitely part of the equation.

Interestingly, Nix said he felt like he really got in rhythm on a 16-yard out-breaker to Courtland Sutton right at the end of the third quarter. So it all kind of came together quickly for the Broncos.

Broncos podcast: What just happened? Breaking down one of the wildest fourth quarters you’ll ever see.

Sir, since I can't get one question answered, may I try two? Why don't the Broncos run a hurry-up offense at least some of the time? Secondly, the officiating seems so arbitrary and intrusive this season, and the roughing call on John Franklin-Myers and the interference on Riley Moss near the end of the game are good examples. These calls are dubious and game-determining. Can't the NFL hire, train and employ full-time professional referees?

-- Rick Ruggles, Denver (now Omaha, Neb.)

Sir, here are answers to both of your questions. The Broncos do, actually, run hurry-up, tempo, no-huddle, whatever you want to call it, some of the time. Whether they run it enough is an open question.

Often, Nix sounds like a quarterback who likes playing fast and would enjoy playing fast more often.

Payton said it himself last month.

“(Nix) likes tempo, tempo to the line," Payton said. "... You adapt because that����ap something that a lot of these college quarterbacks are -- reducing the verbiage and getting to where we can call plays with just one name, one syllable. Those are some of the things that have changed.”

In the next question he answered, though, Payton in a way established his philosophy.

“I may not want tempo (in some situations),” Payton said. “My defense might be tired. So if I’m going tempo, I want to be able to control that.”

Payton also sees importance in getting the initial first down of a drive. Three-and-outs are bad enough -- and Denver’s had a bunch the past few weeks. They’re worse if you’re playing fast and give your defense even less time.

Even without tempo, four of Denver's first-half drives Sunday lasted 2:43 or less. That included an opening series that took just 22 seconds off the clock and also a 1:15 three-and-out.

����’s become something of a prickly topic with Payton, though. After Sunday’s comeback win, the first question he got asked was just about the wild fourth quarter, and this is how he started his answer:

“We got the first score we needed. Then obviously, we get into two-minute offense,” he said. “I don’t want to hear about tempo, alright? But I think we made enough plays in a short period of time.”

Make of that what you will.

As for the officiating, yeah, it����ap an issue and not just for the Broncos but league-wide.

Penalties are definitely up this year, and that����ap due in part to the major uptick in the number of kick return plays.

Anecdotally, though, it feels like more players and coaches are saying more regularly that they’re annoyed with the inconsistency in officiating.

The league should absolutely have full-time referees. ����’s too big a business, the games are too important and there’s too much gambling money involved to carry on long-term with a different arrangement.

And just one thing for clarity here: The league can have an officiating problem and the Broncos can have a penalty problem at the same time. Both appear to be true in 2025.

Oh, and have some Block 16 for me in Omaha.

Former Broncos QB Russell Wilson blasts Sean Payton as ‘classless’

Why is Sean Payton such a grump? Would it kill him to be happy after such a historic and euphoric victory?!

-- RJ Koch, Tonawanda, N.Y.

Ha! Great question, and thanks for writing in, RJ.

One of many reasons Payton is a fascinating figure to cover is that his thoughts, moods, etc. are usually very different from where fans or even players sometimes land.

There was a point in 2023 when the Broncos beat the Packers -- it kicked off a five-game winning streak — and it was his first win in Denver to get the Broncos to 2-5 at the time. People were happy after a close win and all that, and the next day, he talked about driving around after the game and asking himself why he couldn’t be happy.

The rationale Sunday was more straightforward: The Broncos played really badly for long swaths of the game. They won, yes, and did so in exciting, emotional fashion. He called it “euphoric” for Denver’s players. But that didn’t mask, even in the moment, how much bad there was, too.

A win is much better than a loss. 5-2 is better than 4-3. There’s good to take away from the game. But this is a team that also has a lot of work to do if it����ap really going to get where it wants to go.

Parker, what in the world happened with the fourth quarter? I've been sitting here since the game ended and can't for the life of me figure out how we pulled that off. Everything we did worked.

And did Sean Payton get the penalty on purpose to give the Giants an easier touchdown to get more time on the clock for the offense? I jest, but it worked.

-- Marshall, Parker

Hey Marshall, thanks for the question.

On the fourth quarter, yeah, it was insane. We’ve written and talked about it so many different ways, and I still kind of just shrug.

That����ap an interesting thought on the penalty. Payton clearly didn’t do it intentionally, but you could make an easy argument that incurring the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was only the second-worst move by a coach in that sequence. When Jaxson Dart was originally ruled short of the end zone on the quarterback sneak, Giants coach Brian Daboll initially called timeout. He got it back when the review ruled Dart scored, but brother, what are you doing?

With 30-plus seconds left, on the goal line trailing by four with a timeout in your pocket, the clock is your friend. Not your enemy. Clearly, they ended up leaving too much time anyway. But he was going to stop the clock and theoretically help Denver anyway.

Neither ultimately really mattered -- the penalty didn’t cost much yardage and the timeout wasn’t actually needed -- but man. Not exactly a glorious sequence for either sideline.