NFL head coaches are a confident bunch, for good reason. They're smart, analytical, and driven, and their faith in their own system is what separates them from the thousands of coaches who never reach the pinnacle of the sport.
Bill Parcells once famously said, "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." This mindset has seemingly been passed on to Sean Payton, who worked under Parcells as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach with the Cowboys from 2003-05.
Payton had a heck of a career with the Saints, winning a Super Bowl in New Orleans before stepping away in 2022. He returned to coaching last year by taking over the Denver Broncos, but Payton's first season in Mile High was unfortunately, but fittingly, rocky.
Payton never seemed to mesh with Russell Wilson, the quarterback he inherited upon taking the job. Wilson's improvisational style clashed with Payton's emphasis on getting the ball out on time, and the former Seahawks quarterback was benched with two games left in the regular season, even as the Broncos were still very much alive for a playoff spot.
Wilson is now in Pittsburgh after being released by the Broncos in March, and though that move marked the merciful end of Denver's disastrous trade for the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback, it also marked the beginning of a new era for a franchise that has wandered through the QB wilderness since Peyton Manning's retirement in 2016.
Since Manning's last season, Denver has trotted out a list of journeymen that would make Ryan Fitzpatrick blush. Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien, and Teddy Bridgewater have all lined up under center for the Broncos in that time, so you can forgive Denver fans for being excited when Russell Wilson came to town, even if his best years did seem to be behind him.
Denver hasn't had a rookie quarterback to actually be excited about since Jay Cutler was drafted in 2006, but that's no longer the case now that Payton has his guy in former Oregon QB Bo Nix. Cutler was drafted 11th overall and Nix 12th, but the two signal-callers are very different players. Cutler was known for his big arm, while Nix is known for his accuracy, as he set the single-season completion percentage record last year in piloting the Ducks to a 12-2 record. It's this accuracy, combined with an ability to go through his progressions and get the ball out quickly, that set Nix apart from Wilson.
Sean Payton is out of excuses now that he has his hand-picked quarterback in Bo Nix
Payton came under fire for leading a mediocre debut season in Denver, especially after bad-mouthing former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett shortly after his arrival, but most of the ire directed at him came from the fact that he seemed unable to tailor his system to Wilson's strengths as a quarterback, and as a result, the Broncos offense finished 20th in the NFL in points per game and 26th in yards per game.
Nix is still competing with Jarrett Stidham and the newly-arrived Zach Wilson to be the Broncos Week 1 starter, but as Payton's hand-picked first-round draft choice, it's not a matter of if he wins the job, it's a matter of when.
Payton has raved about Nix since the Broncos surprised the league by taking him in the first round in April. Nix's accuracy and processing speed are in the same mold as Drew Brees, Payton's former quarterback in New Orleans, and if Nix can have even half the success that Brees did, then things are looking up for the Sean Payton era in Denver. If he can't though, it would be an indictment of the chef that picked out his main ingredient, and a sign that maybe Wilson shouldn't have gotten as much blame as he did.
