Former Broncos OL Offers Blunt Assessment of Offense's 2022 Struggles

The Denver Broncos had high expectations in 2022 after the Russell Wilson trade and Nathaniel Hackett hire, but those expectations were never met. Instead of a playoff trip, the Broncos finished 5-12 overall, and Hackett was fired with two games left in the season.

While Broncos fans hope that new head coach Sean Payton will turn things around, some may question whether or not Wilson can bounce back from that terrible season, in which he threw for just 16 touchdown passes — a career low — with 11 interceptions, plus a career-low completion percentage of 60.5.

Offensive lineman Billy Turner — who first played for the Broncos in 2016 and all of 2017 and 2018, then returned to the team in 2022 — visited with Sirius XM Sports host Lance Medow about those expectations, but pointed out that having expectations by itself isn’t enough.

“Just because you bring in certain people and expectation levels rise does not equate to success,” Turner told Medow. “You cannot go into a season relying on expectations that you hear and see from the media.”

😳Former Broncos OL Billy Turner didn't hold back in his assessment of the 2022 season and who was to blame in Denver.

Full interview w/ @LanceMedow ⬇https://t.co/U9J33G8t5b pic.twitter.com/X49guiibtO
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) May 10, 2023

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Turner talked more about how much attention the Broncos received after the Wilson trade, among other offseason developments, but that didn’t translate to success on the field.

“We weren’t good at all,” Turner said. “I’m just going to be honest with you. We were s***.”

A blunt assessment, to be sure. The Broncos were a bad football team in 2022.

Turner went on to say that the Broncos had the talent to be a good football team, but “We were not. It’s just how it is.”

In response to a question about the relationship between Wilson and Hackett, and whether that had anything to do with the struggles on offense, Turner said the two weren’t solely to blame. He said everyone on the offense shared in the blame, including himself.

“Our margin for error was super small for everything,” Turner said. “We had a lot of one-score games that we did not figure out how to pull it out, but with that being said, I’m not going to sit here and point the blame at any one individual person. I was a part of that offense. I was part of that team. I was part of the problem.”

It’s easy to blame one person or coach for the reason an offense doesn’t get the job done. And, yes, Hackett ultimately took the fall, given his head-coaching responsibilities, game management issues, and questionable play-calling, the last of those duties he eventually turned over to other coaches.

But Turner is correct that everyone involved with the Broncos' 2022 offense has to share in the blame, and even Coach Payton's postmortem claimed that there is "dirt" on many people's hands. One can point to multiple instances in which somebody other than Hackett or Wilson made mistakes that cost the Broncos chances to win.

It’s a candid assessment from Turner, who could have easily chosen people to blame, but chose otherwise and put himself among those responsible for the struggles.

With that said, the hope is that Payton can bring some stability to the organization and get the offense back on track. There’s a new coaching staff in Denver, too, plus new players added to the offense while others have been either cut or allowed to sign elsewhere.

Of course, success on offense comes down to how Wilson performs on the field. According to Hall-of-Fame head coach Dick Vermeil, if Payton can't resurrect Wilson, "it can't be done."

Even if all of the blame for 2022 can't be laid at Wilson's feet, he needs to perform at a higher level if the Broncos expect to do better.

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