Woody Paige: What? Payton Wilson could potentially be drafted by the Broncos?
As a result of an impressive NFL Combine performance and in tribute to the franchise’s head coach and two of the team’s former starting quarterbacks and one of its best inside linebackers ever, the Broncos must draft at 76th in the third round a player whose name is pronounced “Payton Wilson’’.
He won the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in college football at North Carolina State last season and ran an amazing 4.43 40-yard time in Indianapolis on Thursday.
What a perfect player for the Broncos.
The 6-foot-3, 233-pound inside linebacker would be an excellent complement to Josey Jewell, if he is resigned as an unrestricted free agent, Alex Singleton and Jonas Griffith, and also could be a hybrid with Drew Sanders, who was drafted in the third round last year. The Broncos used to have an exceptional inside linebacker in Wilson — Al (first-round pick in 1999).
Now, about that significant first round pick (12), Denver’s first since 2021 because of another Wilson – Russell.
The Broncos unequivocally are engrossed in a quarterback question and quandary.
The brain trust of Sean Payton, George Paton, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and quarterback coach Davis Webb, who was at the Combine in 2017 as a quarterback his own self, interviewed sevenQBs – Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Mike Platt.
None could wear the No. 7 jersey with the Broncos.
None of the seven were scared off by events surrounding Russell Wilson, who will be gone from Denver soon, or frightened by the potential prospect of competing with Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. All of the eight were well-tutored in what to say during the conversations and in the media sessions afterward.
Most praised Payton, according to The Gazette’s veteran NFL beat writer Chris Tomasson, almost as if he were an equal to Lombardi’s grandfather Vince.
McCarthy said playing for Payton “absolutely would be an honor’’ and that talking with the Broncos coach “was awesome,’’ Tomasson wrote. Nix called Payton one of the “special’’ coaches in football. Penix Jr. described Payton as “a great coach, one of the best in the game’’, and Daniels expressed that Sean is “the guru’’ and meeting with him was “cool’’. Maye utilized both the words “awesome’’ and “cool’’ to summarize the 18-minute exchange with the coach.
Couple of matters to consider: At least seven, maybe all, of the quarterbacks will not be in the Broncos’ training camp this season. And in scouring the reports out of Indianapolis, several of those quarterbacks met during The Combine with other coaches of teams also in dire need of a quarterback, and the reactions by the collegians also were similarly commendable. They lauded Antonio Pierce of the Raiders, Jarod Mayo of the Patriots, Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings, Raheem Morris of the Falcons and the Commanders’ Dan Quinn, who was in interviews with six quarterbacks. “With coach Quinn it was great, kind of clicked right off the bat. He’s a great guy and a great coach,’’ Maye said later.” Pierce, Penix Jr. offered, Quinn “was a pretty cool guy.’’
McCarthy evaluated his meeting with Mayo as “amazing.’’ And probably awesome.
Williams, Daniels and Maye didn’t throw at the Combine. The others did, but didn’t make anybody forget C.J. Stroud or Anthony Richardson from last year’s Combine. The most impressive quarterback Saturday was Joe Minton III, from Tennessee, who threw the hardest ball (62 miles per hour) and the longest pass (almost 80 yards) and did a back flip.
But the Broncos didn’t interview Minton III – although they once had a former Tennessee quarterback who led them to two Super Bowls.
The franchise’s most likely options at 12 are McCarthy, Nix and Penix Jr. despite the three being ranked that high on the NFL board. McCarthy, who added weight (to 219 pounds), has moved up on the list and is identified in several mock drafts with the Broncos, while Nix, who apparently has added an eighth of an inch to his height (6-2) still is mentioned as the team’s pick in other evaluations. Penix Jr. doesn’t show up on any. The Raiders probably will take one of them at 13th just behind the Broncos.
At the end of the Combine, Payton’s only quarterback decision so far is that Wilson will be released in the next 10 days.
But how about Payton Wilson?
Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett, left, chats with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn during an NFL football practice Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at the Broncos’ headquarters in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
