Kareem Jackson Predicts Russell Wilson will Make Clutch-Time Plays Past Broncos' QBs Couldn't
Veteran safety Kareem Jackson didn’t have far to travel from his local residence to Denver Broncos headquarters on Monday to put pen to paper on his new one-year deal. Jackson returns for his fourth season in Denver, and during his time with the Broncos, he knows exactly what the team has been lacking.
Broncos Country would agree with the warts Jackson identified and his assessment of what’s held the team back in recent years. Without a quarterback who could be a killer closer, it didn’t matter how close the Broncos got, it wasn’t going to be enough.
That's set to change now that Russell Wilson is in town.
“Just in previous years, I think we’ve always played some good ball, but you add a guy like Russell at the quarterback position, it definitely puts you over the top,” Jackson said via the team website. “A lot of those close games that we lost, he’ll make a couple more plays on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, we’ll have to do the same. I think we are very close.”
Laying most of the blame on previous quarterbacks, like Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, likely wasn't Jackson's intention, but vanquishing the ghosts of the past is the order of the day in Denver, especially under the refreshing open-book policy of new head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
It's not only about end-of-game performance but all critical game situations in which the past Broncos' signal-callers were left wanting. From third downs to the red zone, the old guard post-Super Bowl 50 simply couldn't get the job done.
Leadership from the quarterback is something that was missing, at least to the level where the offense could step up and help lead the Broncos forward in crunch time, as Jackson explained on Monday.
“It’s huge. Any time you have a guy of his caliber under center and to be a leader in the locker room with his experience, there’s pretty much nothing he hasn’t seen or done in this league,” Jackson told Phil Milani. “To have another leader like that on the offensive side of the ball, to lead that group, it’s huge for us.”
Now that GM George Paton has obtained his franchise leader, and some other important building blocks, circling back to the Broncos was something Jackson always wanted to do.
“We added some huge pieces, so for me, it was definitely important to come back,” Jackson said. “I feel like over the last three years I’ve created a great relationship with a lot of the guys here. I think we’ve got a great group of guys in the locker room.”
As Jackson and his teammates arrived back in the team facility to begin the offseason training program this week, the sense of renewed purpose was palpable; without a doubt, it’s a new era under Wilson and Hackett, and one which the Broncos' enforcer couldn’t be happier to be fully on-board with.
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