Getty
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
The excitement the Denver Broncos have generated by adding certain pieces of offensive firepower this offseason might not be as widespread as we had come to believe.
On a big-picture level, it turns out the Broncos still aren’t thought of as an elite offensive unit after ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put them at No. 23 out of 32 NFL teams in his annual “Playmaker” rankings for each team’s group of running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
In a good news/bad news sort of scenario, Barnwell didn’t think much of the AFC West Division as a whole — the Los Angeles Chargers received the highest ranking at No. 19, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 20, the Broncos at No. 23, and the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 26.
At the top of Barnwell’s list of qualms with the Broncos’ offense is the wide receivers, despite the Broncos trading a 1st-round pick for Miami Dolphins star Jaylen Waddle.
“The only concern with Waddle is injury, given that he missed games and hobbled through others in 2023 and 2024,” Barnwell wrote on June 25. “He should settle in as the 1A ahead of Courtland Sutton. I’d still like to see another player develop around those two. J.K. Dobbins is incredibly efficient when healthy, but even an optimistic projection for the 27-year-old running back would land around 10 or 11 games. (Tight end) Evan Engram was a disappointment in his first year with the Broncos … Sean Payton does a great job of scheming opportunities open in this offense, but the Broncos could use one more difference-maker if they want to start challenging for the top 10 here.”
Broncos Added Offensive Talent Through Draft
The Broncos didn’t sign any outside free agents who project as starters and went heavy on offense in the draft — 4 out of 7 picks were offensive players — but none of their rookies project as starters, either.
What the Broncos are hoping for, in all likelihood, is for 2 of those rookies, in particular, to at least make the 2-deep and turn into competent contributors with running back Jonah Coleman, a 4th-round pick, and tight end Justin Joly, a 5th-round pick.
Coleman seems like a clear backup plan in case Dobbins, as he has so many times throughout his career, is not able to complete a full season due to injuries.
Most Questions for Broncos Rest With Bo Nix
While Barnwell’s rankings made a point of not including quarterbacks, it’s not hard to see how, in the case of the Broncos, there is nothing on the offense that doesn’t go back to starting quarterback Bo Nix and how he recovers from 2 offseason surgeries to repair his fractured ankle.
Nix, who broke his ankle late in an overtime playoff win over the Buffalo Bills, has repeatedly tried to downplay concerns about his ankle and was a limited participant for the Broncos in mandatory minicamp.
It’s safe to say that if Nix’s ankle isn’t right and he’s not the player he was over his 1st 2 seasons as a starter, you can count the Broncos out in terms of AFC contenders just 1 year after they went 14-3 and earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs.
“Bo Nix has a 1.92% career interception rate and 3.71% career sack rate,” Broncos superfan Normie wrote on his official X account on June 20. “No other QB in NFL history who has started multiple games has an INT rate below 2% and sack rate below 4%. The greatest we’ve ever seen at avoiding negative plays.”
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame