The Denver Broncos are entering year two of the Sean Payton era and this version of the team will be the most like the one he is hoping to assemble. Last year, he was clearly saddled with a quarterback he didn’t want in Russell Wilson and even made a change at the position in the final two games. Now he has first-round pick Bo Nix and the roster turnover has been significant enough to have us believe Payton is close to having what he wants in that locker room.
Linebacker Jonas Griffith talked about Payton’s changes and leadership last week with The Drive on 104.3 The Fan. He thinks Denver is going to surprise a lot of people too.
“I think he’s very confident in the team this year,” Griffith said. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people.
“He talks about it a lot to us, too. He’s like, ‘Hey, you know — real comfortable with the guys this year. And we’re ready to go. Got a lot of work to do still, but we’re ready.”
Griffith is a guy I kind of forgot about when I was stressing over the lack of a linebacker taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. He tore his ACL last in training camp spurning a bunch of Loren Landow supporters to come out to defend him, though the number of season-ending injuries for the team ended up well below the numbers experienced under Landow. Hopefully that trend reversal continues.
With Griffith coming back, I’m more excited about Denver’s defense. I was quite worried about having Drew Sanders in there after seeing what I saw out of him as a rookie. Griffith is just 27 and is entering his prime years. He should be a good add opposite Alex Singleton in 2024.
As for the 2024 Broncos defense, its going to come down to Vance Joseph’s play calling and schemes. Many fans don’t put much faith in him, but he had that defense rolling last season when the Broncos won six of seven games to get back into the playoff mix before fading down the stretch. With a rookie quarterback, they’ll need to be playing well all season long.
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