Russell Wilson is coming off the worst season of his career.
That’s why the Denver Broncos brought in Sean Payton, whose main duty as the head coach will be righting the ship that is Wilson, who for better or worse, remains the franchise’s starting quarterback. That’s not Payton’s only duty, but perhaps it’s his most important one.
Wilson played as one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league, as the Broncos stumbled to a 5-12 record, which was good enough for last place in the vaunted AFC West. It cost first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett his job halfway through his first season, and led to the Broncos going all in on their “fixing Russell Wilson approach.”
Payton isn’t the only one tasked with helping Wilson get back to his prior form. He brought in Joe Lombardi to be the Broncos’ offensive coordinator and work hand-in-hand with the 34-year-old veteran and Super Bowl champion.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re really happy with where he’s at,” Lombardi said, via Ryan McFadden of the Denver Post.
While the Los Angeles Chargers fired Lombardi after a playoff collapse and the franchise seemingly looking to go in a different direction with Justin Herbert’s development, his familiarity with both the AFC West and Payton is likely how he ended up with a coordinator job so quickly.
The early returns of the Lombardi-Wilson partnership, however, have been nothing but positive.
While the Broncos don’t know what the future holds for Wilson, they seem to be happy with his progress coming off a difficult first season in Denver.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.