The Denver Broncos enter 2026 with a formula that should make the rest of the league uneasy: one of the NFL’s best defenses, and an offense that now has a real chance to catch up. If that side of the ball starts producing the kind of points this roster can support, Denver could be sitting right in the Super Bowl conversation.
A big reason for that optimism is the addition of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, a move expected to give the offense the jolt it has been missing. Around Broncos Country, the feeling is simple enough - this is a team built to go toe-to-toe with anybody. Not everyone sees it that way, though.
CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin recently ranked every NFL offense heading into the season and landed the Broncos at No. 15, a spot that will not sit well with plenty of Denver fans. His reasoning centered on the team’s change at play caller.
"The Broncos would rank higher here if it weren't for their insistence that it will actually be Davis Mills calling the plays and not Sean Payton. Again, we give all first-time play callers an average grade, no matter how sought after they were on the market the previous offseason.
If Denver had Payton (a 4.5 or 5 on the grading scale) in place, the Broncos would jump up to somewhere between fourth and fifth in these rankings. That's how big a difference your play caller can make in our system, especially when you pair it with an elite offensive line that is arguably the best in the league",
Dubin clearly meant Davis Webb, not Davis Mills, and that mistake aside, the logic feels thin. Penalizing Denver this heavily for handing the offense to Webb misses the point of what the Broncos were trying to do this offseason.
Promoting Webb to offensive coordinator and giving him the play-calling duties looks like one of the smartest decisions Denver made. Sean Payton did not have to hand over that responsibility, and he probably was not thrilled about it, but he understands the value of a fresh approach in that role.
Webb is hardly some random hire. He was already drawing head coaching interest despite not having coordinator experience in the league, which says plenty about how he is viewed around the NFL. The Broncos saw that, elevated him, and now a strong year in this job could put him on a fast track to a head coaching opportunity next season.
Payton has spent decades earning respect as one of football’s sharpest offensive minds, so if anyone is equipped to spot a rising star, it is him. Denver may well have a top-five offense to pair with its elite defense this season. That still has to show up on the field, but dismissing the Broncos because of a change in how the plays are being called does not make much sense.
In Other News...
Sean Payton Just Entered The Broncos Stadium Debate
Sean Payton stepped into the grass-versus-turf conversation around the Broncos future home, and he did it with the kind of practical lens you would expect from a coach who has spent years thinking about footing, wear and tear and how the game actually plays. He said there are real differences in football depending on the surface and even the footwear, and he also made clear that more stadiums seem likely to land on grass where they can.
The complication, of course, is that not every building makes that easy. Payton pointed to the logistical hurdles of putting grass into covered stadiums, which is where the debate gets less philosophical and more operational for Denver as it looks ahead to its new place in 2030. For the Broncos, the field itself is not just a football choice but a money question too, with maintenance costs part of the calculation as the stadium plans continue to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
ESPN Just Gave Broncos Fans Another Reason To Be Furious Over Garett Bolles
For Broncos fans, Garett Bolles has become one of the more frustrating names in the league because the rsum keeps getting better while the national respect never seems to fully catch up. ESPNs latest ranking of the top 10 NFL tackles for 2026 put the Denver left tackle at No. 10, a spot that lands just after a season in which he earned first-team All-Pro honors, started all 17 games and gave up only five sacks while posting a 94% pass block win rate.
The ranking also reopened an old argument about how much value voters place on Bolles beyond pass protection, with some still viewing him as limited enough to cap his ceiling in these kinds of lists. For a player who has been so steady and so important to Denvers offense, the debate is less about whether he belongs in the conversation and more about why it still feels like he has to keep proving it. [Read more 🡒]
Garrett Bolles Is Finally Getting National Respect But One Doubt Remains
Garrett Bolles has spent enough seasons in Denver that his name no longer comes attached to the old questions about whether he could become a dependable left tackle. Now, after an All-Pro season and another year of steady growth under Sean Payton, he is starting to get the kind of national recognition that usually follows sustained play, not just one good stretch. Jeremy Fowlers latest ESPN positional list put Bolles 10th among tackles, his first appearance on one of these rankings, which says plenty about how far his game has come.
Bolles has earned that respect with his pass protection, and there are people around the league who view him as one of the most consistent in that area. Still, the conversation around him is not finished, because the same evaluation that lifts him up also leaves room for debate about how complete his game really is. For the Broncos, that makes Bolles an easy player to appreciate and a harder one to fully settle on, even as his profile keeps rising. [Read more 🡒]