PFF Identifies Broncos' Biggest Unanswered Question in 2023

The Denver Broncos enter the 2023 offseason with a massive number of questions. How can GM George Paton recoup draft capital and maximize Denver’s minimal avenues for adding talent this offseason? What is the long-term outlook for running back Javonte Williams?

Will Dre’Mont Jones be re-signed, and if not, how can Denver boost its defensive front after losing him and Bradley Chubb in a matter of months? Will Denver finally fortify the offensive line? What will Sean Payton’s influence look like in Year 1?

Denver is a mystery box of questions as it currently stands, but none stand out more than the big question for this team. Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson stated the obvious: How do you fix Russell Wilson?

Even the most pessimistic analysts didn’t see last season’s version of Russell Wilson coming. He finished the season ranked 26th in PFF grade after ranking inside the top five for most of his career.

Wilson looked like a player who just didn’t function in today’s NFL any longer, and regardless of the issues with his personal office or parking space in the facility, new head coach Sean Payton needs to figure out how to get him back and functional in a modern offense.

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Wilson’s 2022 season was shockingly bad and well outside the scope of his career norms as a quarterback. Was it just an outlier campaign and the fault of a poor offensive line?

Perhaps the coaching staff was too willing to placate Wilson rather than give him tough love and put him in the best position to succeed. How about Denver's M*A*S*H* unit? The Broncos were inordinately stricken by the injury bug.

Is Wilson falling off in his age-33 season? The actual answer likely includes a little bit of everything.

It’s human nature to simplify things. Some will scream that Wilson never had a chance because of the struggles and injuries in Denver’s offensive trenches.

Others will blame Wilson completely, citing stats such as his league-worst pressure-to-sack percentage last season, arguing that he has lost a step, and that the O-line issues were on him, too.

The reality is when a team’s offense is as bad and dysfunctional as the 2022 Broncos was, everyone is at fault and should shoulder the blame.

Unfortunately, the solution to mending Wilson is as murky as identifying what went wrong last season. Given the Broncos’ linkage to free-agent running back rumors, as well as Payton stating that he needs to take Wilson off the “high dive” by improving the running game in Denver, it does seem the team has a plan to fix the QB by lessening the load on his plate next season with a more potent, balanced offensive attack.

It will be curious to see whether the Broncos transition to more of an under-center, play-action heavy, 50:50 run/pass split style of offense that Wilson succeeded with during most of his time in Seattle.

Will Payton go a different direction with the offensive identity? Will any of it help repair Wilson? Only time will tell, but whether Denver can fix Wilson is far and away the team’s biggest question this offseason.

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