Denver’s quarterback room, which also includes Zach Wilson, Bo Nix, and Jarrett Stidham, is very different now that Russell Wilson is in Pittsburgh. Head coach Sean Payton hasn’t said much positive about his three quarterbacks thus far. It’s also been a little strange.
He described it as “kind of the orphan group.” All of the dogs are orphans. They’re doing well, but they’ve come from a distance. It’s a pleasant room.
When an NFL head coach has a great quarterback, it may be very easy for him to become comfortable. No offense is intended to Andy Reid, but when you know that Patrick Mahomes will be running the plays, it’s probably not too difficult to come up with them.
A great organization may become a poor one very quickly when an HC loses his trusted signal-caller. As the recent dissolution of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots demonstrated, it can also result in the end of a career.
Payton is an additional illustration. One of the best quarterbacks in history, Drew Brees, captained the New Orleans Saints for all but one of his seasons. The Saints had their worst season in a long time the year after Brees retired, despite having four quarterbacks on the roster. It should come as no surprise that Payton left New Orleans after just one year.
Many believed that the stars had aligned once more when Payton subsequently surfaced in Denver and the team acquired Russell Wilson. Meet the quarterback who won the Super Bowl; the coach who did. Naturally, neither of them had any idea what the big game was like until they watched it on TV.
Given that the Jets obviously no longer desired Russell Wilson, it could be appropriate to refer to him as an orphan. He wasn’t a free agent or waived, though; the Broncos traded for him. The other two labels make more sense than this one. Stidham didn’t “come from somewhere”; in fact, he played for the Broncos last season. Although he primarily supported Russell Wilson, he did start two games and had a respectable performance.
It’s also odd to refer to a player just out of college as an orphan. This is especially true in the case of the Nix draft. Denver selected him with its first pick at No. 12, which was high for a team with numerous urgent needs, even though other quarterbacks were selected before him.
Which of these “dogs” will start as quarterback this year? Payton doesn’t know yet, or maybe he’s just keeping details under wraps at this early stage. Whoever it is, the team and supporters are undoubtedly hoping that they avoid making a major blunder on the field.
