It's Past Time for Broncos to Clip Russell Wilson's Wings
After the Denver Broncos acquired Russell Wilson via trade, the talk of the town was how the passing offense would be built with heavy input from the veteran quarterback, that it would be 'co-authored' alongside new head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Not only that, Wilson purportedly would have input on personnel and the draft, and he was even given an office at Dove Valley with his personal coaches in tow.
Wilson got special treatment before he ever played a snap in a Broncos uniform, and that was bound to cause problems. However, the team isn't quitting on Hackett, but the players could be turning on the quarterback. That special treatment, coupled with his atrocious play, is a big reason why his teammates could be tuning him out.
It's too late for Hackett to save his job, and there are rumors that the Broncos' head coach becoming the scapegoat for Wilson's issues isn't sitting well with some players. However, there is no doubt that Hackett is loved in that locker room, which was made evident by Melvin Gordon's comments on Hackett after he was let go.
Gordon, who has never been afraid to speak his mind, spoke about how players are buying into Hackett and his vision. Those are some kind words from one of the more honest players who is unafraid to speak his mind about a coach who he had some play-time issues with before being waived.
So, Wilson is reportedly creating a divide in the locker room. This divide showed up during the Broncos' ugly loss to the Carolina Panthers, where Mike Purcell was seen shouting at Wilson on the sideline. While both players spoke about how it was nothing more than "frustration" and meant to fire up the team, others have said that wasn't the case.
It's clear that Wilson is an issue on the field, and with these reports, he is an issue in the locker room and needs to be reined in. Remember, it was well-reported during Wilson's time in Seattle that he had issues with teammates behind the scenes.
The Broncos need to send a message, starting with GM George Paton and going down to Hackett. The team needs to make it clear that it was wrong to give Wilson the special treatment without ever playing a snap and that he is just like any other player on this team.
The Broncos should take away Wilson's office in the building. If he wants it back, then he needs to play better.
Wilson needs to look in the mirror and realize what he is as a quarterback at this point in his career and be willing to be that to help the team. His desire for an MVP hurt his team in Seattle, where the 'Let Russ Cook' mantra began.
The Seattle Seahawks would do just that, only for the offense to take a significant step back, and so they would rein him in, and the offensive efficiency would improve again. Denver needs to follow suit.
Wilson isn't a pocket-passing quarterback, and the Broncos don't have the offensive line to run these long-developing route concepts that the QB brought with him from Seattle. Remember, Denver's passing offense is heavily influenced by Wilson's preferences. That was made clear in the offseason.
So take away his office, force him to play an offense he can execute, and get his personal coaches out of the team picture. The personal coaches have been with him at Dove Valley, and they've been involved in his daily grind. Every player has personal coaches that they work with, mostly during the offseason, but only Wilson's have been involved to that degree. That wasn't ever going to sit well with his teammates.
Denver handed Wilson $250 million before ever playing a snap. While there were skeptics about his play, nobody thought he would be this bad. Everyone expected that he would lead a more efficient offense and scored more points than the Teddy Bridgewater/Drew Lock/Pat Shurmur offense of the 2021 season.
With how Wilson has played, he doesn't deserve the continued special treatment. It's too late to change up the playbook, but you can change up the calls and use the plays that can lead to more efficient play. The unfortunate thing is, in doing that, you are turning your $250 million quarterback into a rookie/backup-caliber guy.
Wilson needs simple, one-read throws within a quicker passing game. That makes him a game-manager quarterback that the Broncos rue paying a quarter-billion dollars.
Another idea is to call more roll-outs and bootlegs to help cut the field in half. However, issues with Wilson hurt that idea.
Watching Wilson run those types of plays this season, one thing stood out: defenders aren't respecting his legs, so they can play more aggressively in getting after the quarterback. This has hurt multiple plays before they even get going and have led to multiple sacks.
The next part is, the quarterback has to whip his head around, and Wilson isn't doing that. It is a slow turn that puts the quarterback's timing behind schedule before the play gets going.
Those two issues make it hard to run them, but there is an option of running them out of the shotgun, where Wilson keeps his eyes forward. Not ideal, but it is a solution.
Basically, the Broncos have to go away from what Wilson wants and call the plays that he can do. The Broncos need to try and recoup some of their sunk cost, and reining in Wilson before issues in the locker room really explode is their best way to go about it.
Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
