It was a hard pill to swallow for the Denver Broncos and their fans, but a big part of the team's reality in the 2022 NFL season was the disastrous play under center by quarterback Russell Wilson. However, there is the expectation that Wilson will be able to right the ship in the upcoming 2023 NFL season. New Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi already feels good about the progress that the Super Bowl-winning quarterback has made in the offseason, thus far.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re really happy with where he’s at,” Lombardi said, via Ryan McFadden of The Denver Post.

Lombardi was hired by the Broncos to become the team's new offensive coordinator last February. While he is a new face in Denver, he's very familiar with head coach Sean Payton, as the two have worked together back when they were coaching the New Orleans Saints.

The Broncos acquired Russell Wilson via a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in March 2022,  hoping that he will turn the team into a serious Super Bowl contender. That simply did not turn out to be the case in his first year in Mile High City.

The Broncos lost five of their first six games in the 2022 season and finished the campaign last in the AFC West with a 5-12 record, in large part because of their discombobulated offense. With Wilson mostly handling the quarterbacking duties, the Broncos ranked last in the entire league with just 16.9 points per game and 21st with 325.1 total yards per contest.

Those are all behind the Broncos now, as they hope Russell Wilson will play like vintage Russell Wilson in 2023.