The Russell Wilson experience in Denver has been one with plenty of turbulence along the way. It also might be coming to an end much quicker than anyone anticipated upon his arrival. The Denver Broncos and head coach Sean Payton have benched Wilson for the final two games of this season. There are contractual reasons why the Broncos have benched Wilson, but his play and style of play has yet to lend itself or the Broncos into a consistent rhythm. On the season, the Broncos rank 20th in the NFL in EPA per play on offense. Even when the Broncos went on their five-game winning streak and won six of seven games, while they exceeded 20 points in five of those seven games, they scored more than 24 points just once. It was a run built on defense.
The contractual reasons to bench Wilson are self-evident as well. If Wilson gets hurt and cannot pass a March physical, the Broncos would owe him an additional $37 million on top of the $39 million he is already guaranteed for next season. The Broncos would have to accrue a ton of dead cap hits if they were to release Wilson, but it seems like that is now a realistic possibility. If they go down that road, they will have to find cheap alternatives at quarterback. Three realistic options stand out as the potential next quarterback for the Broncos if they elect to move on from Russell Wilson.
Jarrett Stidham
The quarterback with the first crack to be the next Broncos' starting quarterback will be Jarrett Stidham. Stidham doesn't have much of a track record as a starting quarterback in the NFL. In five seasons, Stidham has two starts to his name in the NFL. But that didn't stop Sean Payton from signing Stidham in the offseason and proclaiming that Stidham ‘can become a starter‘ in the NFL.
Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen, but Stidham's Week 17 performance against the San Francisco 49ers last season as a Las Vegas Raider is one of the best performances any quarterback has put up against the 49ers. Stidham completed 23 of 34 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns but also threw two picks.
In a similar situation last year with the #Raiders, Jarrett Stidham had himself a great game vs the #49ers
365 yards passing, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 34 yards rushing.pic.twitter.com/0bF9yjdb2o
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) December 27, 2023
His next start against the Chiefs wasn't as prolific, but his numbers were solid there too. He's already in the building, is under contract for next season, and his coach believes in him. That's a pretty good starting point to have.
Jacoby Brissett
If the Broncos don't like what they see in Stidham, they could maybe look to pivot to Jacoby Brissett as a bridge quarterback. Last season, Brissett ranked 11th in the NFL among quarterbacks in EPA plus Completion Percentage Over Expectation (CPOE) composite score last season while with the Cleveland Browns. This season with the Commanders, he's only played two games, but has come off the bench in both and nearly led the Commanders to comeback victories while completing 78.3% of his passes and averaging 9.7 yards per attempt.
Brissett is not a sexy option, but it's getting harder and harder to find 31 quarterbacks better than him at the moment. He should be a starter somewhere. Maybe Denver could be the place to give him that shot.
Michael Penix Jr.
With where the Denver Broncos are slated to draft in the first round (Tankathon currently slots them with the 14th overall pick), they will be out of the running for Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and likely Jayden Daniels too. But if they want to draft a quarterback of the future, they could do worse than drafting Michael Penix Jr. Penix Jr. is projected to be a first-round pick and has the size (6-3 215 pounds), arm, and production to back that up. Now that Denver finally has a first-round pick again and has one in a deep quarterback class, this might be the best time for them to draft a quarterback they can hope to lead them for years to come.
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