The Most Important Players for the 2023 Broncos

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Denver, Colorado (PSF) - The 2023 Broncos season figures to be one of the most important in recent franchise history, for a plethora of reasons. For one, this year will be the first of the Sean Payton era, and will go a long way in establishing the culture of the new coach’s regime. This year is about finding cornerstones and building blocks for a new era of Broncos football, and outside of a select few players, almost the entire roster will be evaluated in that manner. The Broncos are also coming off what may well be the worst season in their proud history, and every member of the team that remains from last year’s disaster will undoubtedly be hungry to redeem themselves. These players will be the ones who shape this season, and determine whether these Broncos will add to this current era of disappointment, or if they are the team that begins a new age of prosperity for Denver. 

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Russell WIlson, QB

The elephant in the room. The importance of this season for Russell WIlson needs no explanation. After arriving in Denver to much fanfare last March, Wilson fell far below expectations and is now coming off the worst season of his career. The future hall of famer looked almost nothing like the quarterback that dominated in Seattle, and as a result, the Broncos limped their way to a dismal 5-12 finish. Wilson, over the last year, has seemed to attract the ire of almost everyone in the NFL community. Media personalities, fans, and even his fellow players have chimed in to comment on his decline. To call the last year an embarrassment doesn’t begin to do it justice, but a lot can change in a year; and that it has. Nathaniel Hackett has been replaced with a genuine offensive genius in Sean Payton, the offensive line has been significantly renovated, and the Broncos are getting a number of contributors back from injury. Wilson has plenty of talent around him to aid in his quest to redeem himself. If he can put himself back together and become something resembling the All-Pro he once was, the embarrassment of last year will melt away, and the Broncos will thrive. But make no mistake: If Wilson doesn’t bounce back significantly, the Broncos season will look dreadfully similar to last year, and his future will be in jeopardy. Anything less than a playoff berth will likely spell the end of Russell Wilson’s time in Denver- and quite possibly, his time as an NFL starter.

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The entire offensive line

Sean Payton has approached his first offseason in Denver with a very obvious ideology: Run the damn rock. Under Payton’s watch, the Broncos spent their offseason pouring massive amounts of money into improving the team's offensive line. In the opening hours of free agency, Denver gave a combined $140 million to offensive guard Ben Powers and offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey. Both profile as maulers in the run game who will make an immediate difference in that facet of the offense. That, in addition to their signing of running back Semaje Perine and fullback Michael Burton, point to a team that is going to run the air out of the football this year. With a healthy Garrett Bolles returning and Quinn Meinerz’s upward trajectory, the Broncos line seems to be one of the better units in the league on paper. However, the amount of money Denver now has committed to this unit does not make it without its deficiencies. Every member of the offensive line has varying degrees of questions they have to answer. Will Ben Powers Prove his breakout season last year was more than a flash in the pan? Will Mike McGlinchey correct his warts in pass protection to keep Russell Wilson upright? Will Garrett Bolles stay healthy? Will Quinn Meinerz continue to improve? WIll Lloyd Cushenberry finally prove he belongs? For all the talent this unit has, they must prove they can play well as a group and must gel rather quickly. No single lineman is the Broncos most important player, but with how this team is organized, they may well be the team’s most important position group.

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Whoever is WR1

The Broncos have a classic “good problem” at wide receiver. Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and Tim Patrick are penciled in as the top three options, and the Broncos added second round rookie Marvin Mims and former Saint Marquez Callaway to the mix as well. The room is so talented that talented but oft-injured speedster KJ Hamler may well be on the roster bubble coming into camp. Overall, it’s a very good and very deep receiver room for Denver this year. The problem? There might be too many cooks in the kitchen for what Sean Payton likes to do. If you take a look at the receiving leaders for Payton’s past offenses, some clear patterns emerge, one of which being that multiple receivers rarely thrive under his watch. The last time two wide receivers went over 1,000 yards in a Sean Payton offense was 2016, when Brandin Cooks and Michael Thomas finished as the Saints two leading receivers. Payton promptly traded Cooks the following offseason to give Thomas the keys to the offense. If there really is only room for one receiver to have a big year in Denver, trying to predict who that receiver may be is quite the challenge. The leader in the clubhouse would likely be Jeudy, who finished the 2022 season on a tear and was pound-for-pound the best receiver the Broncos had last year. His talent is undeniable, but Jeudy isn’t quite what Payton usually prioritizes in his lead receivers. Payton loves big bodied, contested catch monsters on the perimeter, and as good as Jeudy is, his game is predicated on route running and separation. Courtland Sutton, on the other hand, is a much better fit for what Payton likes in his WR1s. Payton may look at Sutton and see a very similar player to Michael Thomas, who had a historically good run in New Orleans. Not to mention, if Payton’s goal is to get Russell Wilson back on track, it’s worth noting that Sutton seemed to be Wilson's favorite target last season. That said, Sutton’s last three years have consisted of a season that was ended prematurely by a torn ACL, followed by two mediocre campaigns. He has yet to recapture his pro bowl form of 2019, and will have to prove himself to the new coaching staff. Tim Patrick also possesses the size Payton covets, and last time he was on the field, he was Denver’s most consistent receiver. However, he’s coming off a torn ACL that ended his season before it started last year, and will have to get back up to speed in addition to getting acclimated to the new scheme. Perhaps Payton decides to abandon his old habits and build the offense around his surplus of talent at receiver. Perhaps he stays true to his philosophies and one of these receivers gets the lion’s share of the work this season. Either way, it’s highly unlikely we’ll know how the targets will be distributed until well into training camp, or even preseason.

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Patrick Surtain II

Patrick Surtain, at 23 years old, may be the best cornerback in football. No matter what your expectations of the 2023 Broncos are, that fact is extremely exciting, and brings a lot of hope to both the Broncos present and future. Not many players at Surtain’s position have the accolades he has at his age, and he may well be the Broncos best player already. That means that he will be looked upon as a pillar of this team, and will have to shoulder the burdens that come with such importance. Surtain will anchor a defense that will be crucial to how the Broncos win games this year; A run-first, methodical offense will likely result in a lot of low-scoring games that will be predicated on good defensive showings from Denver. That said, if anyone can handle that kind of pressure this early in his career, it’s Surtain. For all his athletic gifts and knowledge of his position, Surtain’s greatest asset may be his maturity. He doesn’t get rattled and is calm and collected on a play by play basis- things that are extremely uncommon of NFL players that are as young as Surtain is. His wisdom beyond his years and his level headed nature are reflected through his play, and they are likely why Surtain has a reputation of being such an advanced corner for his age. In many ways, year three won’t be much different than years one and two for Surtain, because the expectations are similar. Surtain has been the Broncos number one corner from the moment he stepped on the field two years ago, so he’s no stranger to being on an island with the best receivers the game has to offer. The only massive difference between this season and the ones before is that Surtain will be on his third defensive staff in three years, and will have to impress a new group of coaches; But with how impressive he’s been thus far, the odds of him doing so seem pretty good.