Davis Webb Just Showed Broncos Fans What He's Really Made Of

Just as Sean Payton foretold, Davis Webb is taking this week's professional setback quite well.

Payton said Webb would be "fantastic" at the podium on Friday, and he was. The Denver Broncos' 31-year-old offensive coordinator admitted his disappointment in Payton taking back the play-calling duties, while reaffirming his ongoing commitment to the team and his support for his head coach in no uncertain terms.

“I think anytime that happens in any aspect of your life, job-wise, it is a little bit [disappointing]," Webb said on Friday. "But in the same breath, that’s the NFL. You get going. I’ve been a backup QB, been up and down before, and that’s kind of how it goes.”

Webb is only four years into his NFL coaching career. In January of 2023, Payton literally pulled him from the quarterback ranks and onto his new Broncos coaching staff within weeks of Webb starting in the New York Giants' season finale.

Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios

Davis Webb. — Davis Webb chops it up pre-game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Webb knew what he was getting into when he accepted the offensive coordinator job and play-calling duties. He sized up the opportunity from every angle and came to terms with the possible outcomes.

“I have taught myself early to think about the best- and worst-case scenarios," Webb said. "If you’re OK with both, then take that job on… Nothing I can really do about it now except be the best teammate and offensive coordinator I can be. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Again, Webb is no stranger to professional setbacks. That was essentially the life he led as an NFL quarterback: more of a journeyman backup than an established starter.

Payton himself went through a similar situation in 2002 with the Giants when Jim Fassel took the play-calling duties from him. A few short years later, Payton was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

"I think for him, there was a lot of empathy with our conversation because that did happen to him," Webb said of Payton. "We talked about that for a long time, but in the same breath, it’s a different situation as well."

Payton relinquished the play-calling duties for a reason; he genuinely values Webb's unique talent, and when he made the decision early this past offseason, he believed it would be in the Broncos' best interest. Alas, as the offense has suffered from brutally slow starts and a lack of rhythm, Payton's fingers inched ever closer to taking the play sheet back before he finally took action.

"I don’t think anyone wanted to go through this right now, but he’s excited to get the chance to call plays," Webb said of Payton. "I know he’s itching, and we’ll see how it goes.”

As the coordinator, Webb is still in charge of running the offensive meetings and "helping out the quarterback room." Again, he's disappointed to be relieved of the play-calling duties, but his disappointment is more about the Broncos' failure to launch offensively early this season.

Amid the upheaval of Payton's big decision, the Broncos have been game-planning for the winless Los Angeles Chargers. The imperative of going into SoFi Stadium and winning this game takes precedence over all the drama, for lack of a better term.

“I think it’s more just how we started off offensively [with his disappointment], but I’m excited to see how our team responds this week," Webb said. "We’ll try to get a team win against a divisional opponent. It was a long week in some ways, but in other ways, it’s back to work.”

Webb's Live-Bullet Education

So much goes into the art of calling plays in the NFL. It's not just picking and choosing the right plays to put in the game plan or to roll out in the first 15 to 20 plays of a contest.

It's about sequencing, adjusting, and all the while, calling plays that maximize personnel strengths while attacking opponents' weaknesses. And so much more.

Gut feeling has much to do with it in-game, especially once a play-caller has burned through the scripted first 15. That's where talent and experience intersect.

Along the way, Webb feels confident that he was able to speed up the Broncos' play-calling process to cut out the delay-of-game penalties and give quarterback Bo Nix more time to survey the defense pre-snap. It may have been hard to deduce from watching on TV or from the stands, but Webb believes the Broncos' offensive operation was increasingly cleaner by the week.

Would that it was also increasingly productive. Webb learned a lot about himself — valuable information that will serve him down the road as his coaching career progresses.

"I think I’ve learned a ton when it comes to sequencing, to play selection, to how we game-plan, to really how the players respond to it," Webb said. "So I think everyone’s got a hand in that, and we’ll see what happens.”

The young OC ultimately takes responsibility for the unit's failure to launch on his watch, but even Payton and veterans like Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton said that everyone's fingerprints are on it. Nix has not looked like his usual self this season, which is obviously a big reason why Payton is taking back the reins.

"We were so close in a lot of areas. I think in the San Francisco game, you can see a few plays that were very, very close to being successful," Webb said. "Same with the week before against the Rams. We just didn’t put a full game together consistently enough. I take responsibility for that. I’m the play-caller, but we all have a hand in this, and hopefully we can get going this weekend a little bit faster.”

'All in' For Bo

Davis Webb and Bo Nix. — Davis Webb and Bo Nix chat pre-game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As we learned from Payton on Thursday, everyone at Broncos HQ who touches the offense feels like they let Webb down, including Nix. There's no question this was a collective failure.

Webb and Nix have a close relationship, and that won't change with Payton taking back the play-calling and being the voice in the quarterback's ear on game day. Webb confirmed that it was Payton who broke the news to Nix.

“I think Sean might have done that to be honest with you," Webb said of Nix. "But again, like I told him, I’m going to be like I always have been in my mind and his mind: I’m all in for him. I’m all in for everybody in this offensive unit, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure everybody’s in a position to be successful.”

'Extremely Close' to Breaking Through

Bo Nix. — Bo Nix scans the defense pre-snap. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Webb is a selfless leader. His comportment and remarks at the podium on Friday were impressive. He's as mature and insightful as he is talented and knowledgeable, and Payton still sees a head-coaching job in his protégé's future, though this week's setback may have reset the timeline — but you never know.

The Broncos will rally behind Payton as the play-caller moving forward, which is how it's been for 54 of the 58 games (counting playoffs) he's served as the head coach. Webb will do everything in his power to help the offense get over the hump and break through the obstacle that has been holding it back.

But if Webb is right, it won't take much longer for Nix and the offense to finally break out.

“Extremely, extremely close," Webb said of the offense. "I think there are a few things in the pass game that were close last week, a few things in the run game that were close last week. You can see the second halves of the Jaguars game, the Rams game. I mean, I just mentioned three good teams right there. "

As I wrote in my Winners and Losers article analyzing Payton's play-calling decision, Nix stands to gain a lot from working under his head coach's experienced hand. Payton shepherded Drew Brees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and helped Nix become the winningest and most statistically prolific quarterback in NFL history through his first two years.

It really is a bummer for Webb, and for Payton and Nix, to be honest. They all wanted this arrangement to work out.

But the NFL is a production-based business, and while the Broncos have managed to beat two of the league's four best teams thus far, the offense simply hasn't looked like a Super Bowl contender.

"Kansas City was tough on everybody… So I think getting off to this start, being at 2-2 is not what we wanted, but it’s where we’re at," Webb said. "I think that a lot of teams in the NFL will be OK with that.”

All Denver's Goals Are Still On the Table

If the Broncos can beat the Chargers, they'll be sitting at 3-2 when they face the Seattle Seahawks next Thursday night at Mile High. The Broncos haven't lost at home yet, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams at Empower Field, so we can expect them to give Seattle their best shot.

Even if the Broncos were to beat the Chargers but lose to the Seahawks, they'd be sitting at 3-3 as they travel to take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7. Then it's back home to rematch the Kansas City Chiefs to complete this brutal first-half-of-the-season gauntlet.

A 5-3 record or 4-4 at worst would put the Broncos in a great position to capitalize on the ensuing seven-week stretch where their toughest opponents are the Carolina Panthers (Week 9) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 14), both of which are on the road.

The Broncos close out this first-place schedule with a home stand against the Buffalo Bills (Week 16), a road trip to face the New England Patriots (Week 17), and the season finale at Mile High against the Chargers. Denver is 2-2 but has faced (literally) the NFL's four best teams consecutively to start this season.

All the more reason to sympathize with Webb. He may have faced the four toughest opponents in the history of an NFL coach's first four career games as a play-caller. But that's all water under the bridge now.

If the Broncos play their cards right and galvanize around Payton and Nix, all their goals are still in front of them and fully on the table. Fans can trust that Webb will be doing his part to make it all happen.

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