Russell Wilson | A mistake of 245 million?

There is a wind of change in Denver this season. The Broncos have new owners, a new head coach and a new quarterback. But despite a somewhat misleading 2-1 record, their start to the season has been sluggish and has even the club’s most ardent supporters worried.

Miguel Bujold
The Press

Will Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense improve over the next few weeks? Of course yes.

Did the Broncos make the right decision in setting their sights on the former Seahawks quarterback? That is a little less certain.

Wilson is still capable of picking up wins by being on top in crucial moments, as we saw last Sunday against the 49^ers. Rather, the question is whether he can still be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, the kind who can put his club on his shoulders and carry him into the playoffs, ideally into the semi-finals. The kind of quarterback who makes 50 million a season…

The Walton-Penner Group, which officially bought the Broncos for $4.65 billion on Aug. 9, gave Wilson a five-year extension for a cool $245 million (median salary of $49 million), less than ‘a month later. The 33-year-old is now under contract with Denver for the next seven seasons including this one.

The Broncos could still choose to release Wilson in four or five years without it being a salary cap disaster, but one way or another, he will be their long-term quarterback. He is guaranteed to receive at least 161 of the 245 million provided for in his contract, so it could very hardly be otherwise.

It’s way too early to start panicking in Colorado. Wilson deserves the benefit of the doubt and certainly didn’t become a celery stick overnight.

That said, there are signs that cause concern. He’s only played three games, but Wilson is only passing 59.4% of his passes and his lack of accuracy since the start of the schedule is unusual. Is it because of the new game system he has to familiarize himself with? Surely a little.

What’s even more concerning for the Broncos is that Wilson is no longer the moving quarterback that has long been poison on third downs. He’s only gained 22 yards and one first down with his legs so far. He gets only 2.4 yards per carry, he who has averaged 5.5 since the start of his career.

Three games is obviously too little to draw conclusions, but we saw the same trend in 2021. After rushing for 513 yards the previous season, Wilson gained only 183 last year.

Stronger than he was at the start of his career, Wilson has lost agility behind his line, it is obvious. It also partly explains why he has already been the victim of nine sacks this season.

In light of the reports that came out in the days leading up to Wilson’s return to Seattle in the first week of activity, the Seahawks feared some decline for the greatest player in their history. Thus, they had been exploring the possibility of exchanging Wilson for a few years already and could not refuse the offer of the Broncos, who gave up two first-round picks (2022 and 2023), two second (2022 and 2023), the tight end Noah Fant, tackle Shelby Harris and quarterback Drew Lock. That’s not to mention the savings below the salary cap in real dollars…

Who is Nathaniel Hackett?

The Broncos obviously believed that Wilson was the missing piece to their puzzle. However, we see that their offensive line is shaky, that they do not have a leading tight end and that their group of wide ends has been overvalued.

Or is it rather the offensive system that is the real problem?

The other major Broncos addition this offseason was Nathaniel Hackett. The former Packers offensive coordinator became head coach for the first time in his life and quickly drew criticism with poor decisions and poor clock management that the Broncos hired an assistant to help him. take care of this aspect of the game last week by Jerry Rosburg.

In addition to being able to count on Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Hackett surely received advice from pilot Matt LaFleur, who seems very involved in the choice of offensive plays for his team…

Prior to leading the Packers offense, Hackett held the same position with the Bills (2013-2014) and Jaguars (2016-2018). He is the son of Paul Hackett, who was an assistant coach with several NFL teams between 1980 and 2010.

For better or for worse, the Broncos have been tied to Wilson for at least four or five years. On the other hand, they could easily change coach if it does not work out with Hackett.

It’s curious to talk about the sort of a team that’s currently showing a 2-1 record, but the Broncos are lucky, let’s face it. They might as well be 0-3.

Sunday, they will find an old division rival who is going through a situation similar to theirs. Despite the arrival of Davante Adams, Chandler Jones and Josh McDaniels, the Raiders have yet to win this season. Since all eyes will be on Wilson and the Broncos and because the Raiders are already backed into the wall, the meeting between these opponents from the American West should have the intensity of a playoff game. Yes already. Long live the NFL!

Three games to watch

Buffalo at Baltimore, Sunday at 1 p.m.

If watching three games in a row is not enough for you, know that RDS will present the first game of Sunday at 9:30 am, the match in London between the Vikings and the Saints. At 1 p.m., it’s the clash between the Bills and the Ravens that will hold the attention. It will oppose the two best quarterbacks of the 2018 vintage, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Heading into Thursday night’s game, Allen led the league with 1,014 passing yards and Jackson had the best passing efficiency rating (119.0). Jackson and Allen are also the two toughest quarterbacks on the ground and no other NFL player has a bigger impact on his team than those two.

Kansas City at Tampa Bay, Sunday at 8:20 p.m.

If this part cannot be performed in Tampa Bay due to hurricane devastation Ian, it will be played at the Vikings’ home in Minneapolis. No less than eight Buccaneers players have already had a sack after three games and their defense has already caused eight turnovers (five interceptions and three fumbles). But Patrick Mahomes has only thrown one interception and had just two sacks so far, so it’s a promising matchup. On the other side of the ball, Tom Brady can count on the return to play of Mike Evans and probably that of Chris Godwin. This will be the first game between the two teams since their Super Bowl clash two years ago.

L.A. Rams at San Francisco, Monday at 8:15 p.m.

The loss of left tackle Trent Williams, who will miss at least a month with an ankle injury, is a huge blow for Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49^ers. First, because Garoppolo is a classic style quarterback who needs to be well protected in order to be effective, and second, because Williams is an important piece in the Niners’ running game. Matthew Stafford has already thrown five interceptions and had nine sacks for the Rams. Let’s remember that these two division rivals fought for the National championship last January. The Rams had won, but the 49^ers have generally had the number of defending champions over the past few years.