How Russell Wilson's scrambling can take the Broncos' offense and defense to the next level

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It took only one practice as a Denver Bronco for Russell Wilson to display not just why he’s a nine-time Pro Bowler, but what makes him special.

Starting under center on a goal-to-go situation, Russ felt pressure beating down from the left side, took off right and on the run found Montrell Washington in the end zone for a touchdown.

Plays later, Wilson was back at it, this time purely with his feet. With pressure in his face, Russ took off to the right, then quickly cut inside to scamper in the end zone five yards out.

But the cherry on top, the creme de la creme, the play of the day, was when No. 3 felt pressure from the right side, scrambled left, was immediately met by pressure from the left edge, turned his back to the line of scrimmage in order to go back to the right, broke out in a all-out sprint to the right sideline and tossed a touchdown.

Vintage Russ was on display.

“Watching him today make some of the plays he did with his feet and dodging and moving, it was like me when I was in flag football back when I was younger,” Nathaniel Hackett said after practice with a laugh. “He’s doing great, and we’re excited to see him just keep owning that system.”

And running Russ puts “a lot” of stress on opposing defenses, according to Hackett, which the head coach gladly welcomes.

“Even when you’re out here and everybody thinks that they sacked him, you just laugh because when you watch the tape and there are a lot of times he gets out of things,” Hackett said with a smile. “He bobs and weaves, and then all of a sudden, scores touchdowns. I think it’s from the standpoint of having covered all the different schemes, but they do have to understand that Russell Wilson is back there and can take off at any time and extend the play. It definitely adds a whole other threat.”

Despite being 33 years old, Wilson was scrambling all over the field during Denver’s first OTA practice of the offseason. On Monday, the Broncos focused on red zone, or the gold zone as Hackett has called it in the past.

After running around in the red zone for nearly two-straight hours, Wilson admitted having the ability to scramble when needed is an advantage, but it’s about finding the right mixture.

“You have to move around and make some plays,” Wilson said. “We have to be able to do it all. We have to be able to run the ball great in the red zone, too. It’s about touchdowns when you cross that red zone. The whole game is about touchdowns, but especially when you get across that red zone. You want to be the best in the league to be able to do that. That’s a key thing. You want to be at least Top 5 in the league. I think that’s something that’s really important.”

Wilson agreed with a reporter that successful quarterbacking starts by winning in the pocket first, which he did many times on Monday, including a touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton on a crossing route.

“Everything starts from the pocket [in order] to be able to have control of the game through the pocket, but also outside of the pocket,” Wilson said. “You have to be able to dominate both… Guys are getting open and they’re making plays. Guys were making plays all over today. Touchdown after touchdown and making plays and great catches. The defense was making good plays, too. It was such a competitive practice. It felt like a championship-type week in OTA [No.] 1. That’s a good feeling.”

On the flip side of the ball, Justin Simmons, Pat Surtain and Dre’Mont Jones had their first experience going up against running Russ in practice.

While Wilson’s wheels got the defense their conditioning work in mid-practice, Simmons said it was “great” for his unit to face Wilson since it will prepare them for what’s to come.

“We’re going to see that with [Patrick] Mahomes twice a year. We’re going to see that with [Justin] Herbert. [Derek] Carr has the ability to extend plays. I’m just thinking in our division. I can go down the list of teams that we’re going to play,” Simmons explained. “It seems like the game each and every year is just elevating more and more to quarterbacks that are more mobile and can extend plays with their legs, and that’s great.”

“Especially in the red zone because it’s not about the length, but the width and you can get open. All you need is [a little] separation and with a guy like ‘Russ’ who can extend plays like that. We’ve seen time and time again throughout his tenure,” the All-Pro safety continued. “Defensively for us, it’s great reps because you’re always like, ‘Oh, that was a sack,’ but in real life, he can probably make some people miss right there and keep the play going. It’s good work for us, too.”

Mahomes, Herbert and Carr are just a few of the names the Broncos’ defense is going to have to prepare for in 2022. From a scrambling standpoint, Denver will have to also prepare for Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Zach Wilson, and potentially Malik Willis and Trey Lance in 2022.

Denver’s defense will get plenty of work going up against a dual-threat quarterback. In fact, even after just one practice, they already have.

In year’s past, Denver’s defense hasn’t gone against a quarterback that is a threat on the ground. In year’s past, Denver’s offense hasn’t had a dual-threat quarterback.

That’s not the case now with Russell Wilson in town.