ESPN Buries Broncos in Way Too Early 2023 Power Rankings

After falling flat on their collective faces and being called one of the most underwhelming and disappointing teams in the NFL last season, do not fault the league at large for doubting the 2023 Denver Broncos.

After all, at one point just last season, the Broncos, who wound up 'earning' the No. 5 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft (which belongs to the Seattle Seahawks as a result of the Russell Wilson trade), had the nearly same odds to win the AFC West as the eventual Super Bowl-Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Obviously, things did not go Denver’s way in 2022. From a coaching staff that overall was in over its head (mainly on the offensive and special teams side) and another season of horrible injury luck, it would be prudent to take the 2023 Broncos with a wait-and-see approach.

NFL media, though, is out on the 2023 Broncos already. In ESPN's way-too-early power rankings, the Broncos checked in as the 27th highest-rated team (or the sixth worst-rated) by the sports media giant.

ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, a long-time Broncos beat writer, wrote the following about the team’s lowly ranking:

Sean Payton is taking over a team that has played playoff-level defense (again) but hasn't scored more than 20.8 points per game in a season since 2015 and hasn't finished in the league's top 15 in scoring since 2014. The Broncos have cycled through 10-plus quarterbacks and fired three coaches since January 2019. Payton is now tasked with repairing quarterback Russell Wilson's game, but the bottom line is if he can't get Wilson and the rest of the Broncos to score more touchdowns, he'll eventually join a growing list of those who have failed that task.

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The Broncos might struggle again in 2023 and prove ESPN correct. The team has solid cap space and flexibility but the bottom line is if Wilson plays as he did in 2022 once again, it is going to be near impossible for the Broncos to be any better than hovering around .500, even if they catch better breaks this time around.

If the Broncos wind up as bad as ESPN projects via their power rankings, fans should expect a significant shake-up in Dove Valley next offseason. In such an event, Wilson would very likely be released with a massive dead cap hit split over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and several veterans likely joining him as street free agents. Denver finishing this poorly foreshadow one thing: a major rebuild.

However, games are not played on paper. Just as the Broncos were major underachievers in 2022, they could be the surprise of the 2023 season with a revitalized Wilson and a functional organizational structure taking place with new ownership and coaching in place.

Until the games are played, though, and the Broncos start to earn respect, expect the doubt and dismissal of the previous season to continue when discussing the team's relevance.

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