Jaylen Waddle Explains What Stands Out About Davis Webb

Although the Denver Broncos are returning 90% of their 2025 snaps this season, there are some new components to the operation. On offense, the new components are big ones: offensive coordinator Davis Webb and veteran wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

Webb isn't exactly new to the team, though. He served as the Broncos' quarterbacks coach for the past three seasons, and the pass game coordinator last year.

Following the Broncos' ouster from the playoffs, head coach Sean Payton fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and promoted Webb to the position. Payton didn't stop there, though; Webb was also given the primary play-calling duties.

Two months later, the Broncos acquired Waddle via trade from the Miami Dolphins, giving up a first and third-round draft pick in exchange. "He's different," has been the early buzz on Waddle. His speed and explosiveness have stood out immediately.

Because of Webb's new play-calling responsibility, Broncos fans have been eager for any early feedback on the young OC. We've heard from several veterans on the Webb front, but Waddle also shared his first impressions of his new coordinator and perhaps what makes him different.

"'D-Webb' has been great," Waddle said of Webb during OTAs earlier this month. "He's still got that player-type attitude. You can see it in meetings. He's really competitive. He gets after us. He challenges us on and off the field. So he's been great."

A 'Player-Type Attitude'

Denver Broncos offensive pass game coordinator Davis Webb before the game against the San Francisco 49ers. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Webb is only four years removed from being an NFL quarterback. His path to the coaching ranks was unique.

After starting the regular-season finale for the New York Giants in January of 2023, Webb was approached by Payton, who'd just taken the Broncos job, about the quarterbacks coach vacancy.

Webb was given the opportunity to go straight from playing to the NFL coaching ranks. He was announced as the Broncos' new quarterbacks coach just weeks after taking snaps as a player.

Waddle sees that "player-type attitude" hanging on as part of Webb's mental makeup as a coach. Webb is only 31, which makes it easy for him to relate to the players.

Webb has been in Denver since the beginning of the Payton regime. Webb was there when the Broncos released Russell Wilson and when they drafted Bo Nix just six weeks later.

Webb is a big reason for Nix's rapid development as a quarterback. But Webb's history as a player, and his experience now as a coach, has him seeing big things on the horizon for the Broncos' offense, and Waddle is the catalyst.

Josh Allen Parallels

Back in 2020, Webb was Allen's backup when the Buffalo Bills acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs via trade. That move proved to be a catalyst for Allen's ascension as a Year-3 player, and Webb sees similar things in motion in Denver with the arrival of Waddle.

“He’s good. He’s a really good player," Webb said of Waddle during OTAs. "And there’s some similarities. When I was with Josh Allen going into Year 3—similar to Bo going into Year 3—and we traded for Stefon Diggs. And that was a good year. That was a good two-year run in 2020 and 2021, when I was together with them."

Webb knows that his unit has a long way to go before it can manifest a Year-3 ascension for Nix, but the Allen/Diggs parallels are there with Nix/Waddle.

"Just seeing the growth from both players at that time," Webb recalled of Allen and Diggs. "There’s some similarities of what’s starting to happen here. It doesn’t mean it’s going to. We’ve got a long way to go, but man, he’s good."

It'll be fun to see how it'll shape up. One big difference between Allen's third year and what Nix faces is the schedule. The Broncos have a first-place schedule this season, plus the AFC East and the NFC West.

But Nix has proven to be the type of quarterback who rises to the occasion, especially against upper-echelon opponents. And the Broncos have built a considerable nest around Nix, protecting him well with an elite offensive line, insulating him with a rebuilt running back room, and adding potent weapons like Waddle to the arsenal.

The rest is up to Nix and Webb.

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