ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Tuesday’s practice came with a twist.
The Denver Broncos have rotated their quarterbacks throughout camp. Jarrett Stidham gets one day. Bo Nix gets the next. Then Zach Wilson jumps into the starting lineup.
Tuesday was supposed to be Wilson’s day with the starters, but Stidham jumped him in the rotation. When asked, Payton said there was no change to the rotation.
“No, we’re still—look we’ve got a plan,” he said. “Yesterday, Bo ran with the ones, Zach with the twos. Today, ‘Stiddy’ was with the ones, so no news to announce there. I know you’re looking for it.”
Payton mentioned last week that changes could be coming.
“The rotation has been pretty consistent,” Payton said on Saturday. “I think that will begin to change a little bit as we get into the next week and a half to two weeks.”
The quarterback situation for the Broncos is murkier than ever.
For more on Payton’s comments, click here.
Here’s what went down on Day 6 of Broncos Camp…
QB Scoreboard
Jarrett Stidham: B+
Once again, Stidham’s steadiness stood out, but for the second straight day, he added some spice.
Stidham ended his day with a big-gainer to Brandon Johnson. The offensive line picked up the blitz, giving Stidham time to hit Johnson on a dig with Ja’Quan McMillian in coverage. I marked down a 30-yard gain.
He hit another dig to Lil’Jordan Humprey earlier in practice for a modest 10-yard gain.
One of my favorite throws came from an empty backfield. Stidham hit Courtland Sutton on a quick slant from the slot against Riley Moss. Empty sets simplify reads for the quarterbacks. Stidham knew exactly where he was going with the ball and got it to his top weapon quickly.
One of Stidham’s incompletions was a drop by running back Samaje Perine, who might have heard linebacker Cody Barton crashing toward him. Two more passes were batted away.
Zach Wilson: C
If we hadn’t seen three years of Wilson as a starter, I’d be excited about some of the throws he makes on a daily basis.
Today, he hit David Sills 20 yards downfield on a dig. He had a good ball to Devaughn Vele in front of cornerback Quinton Newsome and to Marvin Mims on the sideline in front of Art Green.
But, as always, there was one play that killed his day.
Wilson pulled the ball on an RPO and tried to hit Sills on a quick slant, but linebacker Levelle Bailey jumped outside and closed the passing lane. Wilson left the ball behind Sills, dodging the interception.
If you were simply adding the stats for each quarterback, which media are not allowed to report, you might be able to make a case that Wilson was nearly as productive as Stidham. But the bad plays for Wilson appear to be his fault, while Stidham got some tough luck and a drop.
Bo Nix: C-
The rookie had a tough day. His offensive line didn’t give him much of a chance, but even when he had time, the results were unspectacular.
Nix’s two biggest passing plays were both against linebacker Justin Strnad. One was to Nate Adkins for about three yards. the other was to Michael Bandy in the flat for maybe three yards. I’d imagine Strnad feels pretty good about how those played out. In a game situation, he would’ve had a chance to light Bandy up.
While the rookie’s passing game performance contained nothing to get excited about, he had a solid run on a read option. In a game situation, I’d guess he’d pick up about 10 yards.
If anything, this grade might be slightly too high.
GPAs
Average of daily grades.
Jarrett Stidham: 2.67 (B-)
Bo Nix: 1.90 (C)
Zach Wilson 1.90 (C)
Batting Practice
The Broncos’ defensive line has looked like the top group on the team during training camp, but it showed off a new skillset on Tuesday.
The defense had five swats at the line of scrimmage; one each from Thomas Incoom, Zach Allen, Matt Henningsen and Dondrea Tillman. The other came on a screen with a number of defenders in pursuit, and I couldn’t tell who got the ball.
The Broncos kept the heat up as rushers, too.
Incoom had a sack when he was untouched around the edge. He would have blindsided Nix with a massive hit. (It looked like running back Jaleel McLaughlin was responsible for Incoom up.) Incoom beat Matt Peart later but I don’t think he made it to the quarterback in time to make the play.
Outside linebacker Jaylon Allen had a sack past tackle Trey Jacobs. The Broncos had two other sacks where I couldn’t see who deserves credit because multiple players were there. I gave inside linebacker Levelle Bailey one of them.
I’ve written this a few times, but I’ve been very impressed with the Broncos’ defensive front in practices so far.
Javonte looks sharp
While the Broncos’ defensive line has beaten up on the offensive line through the first week of camp, the offense balanced the playing field during nine-on-seven drills on Tuesday.
The run-game battle between the offense and defense was even on Tuesday, with good runs from just about all of the Broncos’ backs.
The highlight of nine-on-sevens came when Audric Estime decided to pop safety Omar Brown about 15 yards down the middle of the field. Brown stumbled a few steps backward. Estime has looked great in recent days.
With pads on, it’s time to start dreaming on running back Javonte Williams.
Williams looks noticeably quicker after dropping 11 pounds this offseason. I write “nice cut” next to his name at least once or twice a day.
Until we see full-on tackling, we won’t know exactly what Williams will return to the table.
Here’s an example…
During the nine-on-seven drill, Williams bumped a run to the outside. Undrafted rookie linebacker Levelle Bailey was alone on the edge to make the tackle. Those are the tackles Williams needs to break.
And those are the tackles Bailey needs to make if he wants to make the team. The undersized linebacker has had a great camp, but unless he can bring down running backs one-on-one, there isn’t a place for him in the NFL as a linebacker.
One-on-ones
The Broncos held their first round of receiver vs. cornerback one-on-ones on Tuesday. The drill was simultaneous with the nine-on-sevens, so my notes are incomplete.
Here’s what I noticed…
- Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian had two great pass breakups from the slot. One was against Michael Bandy. The other was against David Sills. McMillian was the big winner from the drill.
- Courtland Sutton beat Pat Surtain II up the sideline on the first rep for a big gain. Surtain bounced back, including a great cover against Phillip Dorsett, who had inside position.
- Damarri Mathis shut down an out route to Marvin Mims Jr. He had a good cover on Troy Franklin deep, too.
- Sills caught an out route against Riley Moss. Reese Taylor beat Sills.
- Kris Abrams-Draine was in solid position against Jalen Virgil on a slant, but couldn’t quite break the pass up.
Notes
- Outside linebacker Durell Nchami makes the notebook as he has just about every day of camp, but for the wrong reason this time. Tight end Nate Adkins blocked Nchami into the ground and Nchami stood up and started fighting back. Some shoving ensued and Nchami lost his helmet by the end of it. I haven’t written about Adkins yet in camp, but he’s looking really solid. The biggest difference is in the passing game, where he’s making a couple of short catches per day. Adkins is set up to be the Broncos’ blocking specialist with Chris Manhertz no longer on the team.
- Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers missed practice because of a death in his family.
- Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto missed practice because of a back issue. Payton said he could be back as soon as Wednesday.
- The Broncos held their second round of field goal drills on Tuesday. Kicker Wil Lutz has been very solid, although he missed two kicks today. The first was from 48 yards. The other was a 66-yarder that missed to the right. It might have gone in but might have hit the crossbar if it was on line.
- Defensive lineman Zach Allen jump offsides for a second consecutive day. He’s having a great camp, but the pair of penalties is notable.
- Tight end Greg Dulcich made a great block against Tremon Smith on Tuesday. He’s struggled blocking in camp, so I want to make note of the lane he opened up.
- WR Courtland Sutton spoke to reporters for the first time since he received $1.5 million in incentives added to his contract. “I think it was made pretty clear that this is home for me, and this is where I wanted to be. I’m grateful that we were able to come to some form of an agreement to be able to help both of us move forward.”
Check out our Day 5 notes here.
Check out our Day 4 notes here.
Check out our Day 3 notes here.
