When it comes to the Denver Broncos, there are people wondering if head coach Sean Payton can get the job done and revitalize the team, especially after drafting Bo Nix with their first round pick. One person in particular who expressed his opinion on the show “All Facts No Breaks with Keyshawn Johnson” was former Broncos star Chris Harris Jr. as he spoke about the new era of the organization.
Harris played 12 seasons with Denver where he was an integral part of the defensive foundation as he was a six-time Pro Bowler, part of the Super Bowl winning team in 2016 and was on the first team All-Pro list that same year. His last season in the NFL funny enough was with the New Orleans Saints where it was the first season Payton was not there as Harris Jr. initially questioned how much of a “quarterback guru” he could be as Drew Brees is the only name that comes to mind.
“I mean he’s the best guy out there,” Harris Jr. said. “He’s supposed to be the quarterback guru and I think I can only, I don’t know that many quarterbacks he’s actually guru’d though. Only one I can remember is Drew Brees so far, maybe you have a little more history on that.”
Harris Jr. expects Bo Nix to be the Broncos' Week 1 starter
Under Payton, Denver had Russell Wilson but both sides have parted ways since which led to Bo Nix being drafted by the Broncos with the 12th overall pick. Harris Jr. would say that Payton is a “good fit” for what Denver needs at the current moment and has high expectations that Nix will be the starting quarterback for the first week.
“I think Sean is a good fit for what they need right now because you know I was there the whole time Key when it started,” Harris Jr. said. “When the coaching carousel started, I had about 10 different quarterbacks after Peyton almost. We needed a guy like Bo Nix, we need to have somebody that was young with fresh legs that had some success in college to come in here and try to win this starting job. I would be pretty upset if this kid can’t beat out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. So I expect Bo Nix to beat those guys and be the starter Week one, so I’ll be highly disappointed if he’s not.”
Harris Jr. never thought Russell Wilson and Denver was a “good fit”
There is no doubt that Nix is thought to be the potential quarterback of the future for the Broncos and as Harris Jr. said, he could start Week 1 as the room consists of former first round pick Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. Harris Jr. would talk about how the Wilson experiment did not work and how Nix fits what Payton wants to run.
“Hopefully this guy can come in and be the guy,” Harris Jr. said. “Russell Wilson, the experiment didn’t work well, I don’t think it was a good fit of them meshing together because Russ needed a wide open offense and Sean Payton was trying to run a play action style offense and spread it only in two minutes.”
Sean Payton and his label as a “quarterback guru”
The host of the show in Johnson would continue on the conversation saying that Payton did bring in Tony Romo originally to the Dallas Cowboys when he was the quarterbacks coach. However, would also concur with Harris Jr. that the label of “quarterback guru” could be over-reactionary.
“Well I mean he gets the credit for finding Tony Romo, and he gets the credit for signing off on that,” Johnson said. “He didn’t coach Tony when Tony became a starter. What happens though is they tag them with the guru label, like you’re saying and they only really coach one quarterback and they get a bunch of backups who play serviceable football when they get the opportunity to and that’s pretty much it.”
In any sense, the Broncos are trying to improve after last year where they went 8-9 which put them third in the AFC West. They will start their upcoming season on the road against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Sept. 8.