When it comes to Nathaniel Hackett, the Broncos didn’t ‘do him dirty’

You knew some Jets player would publicly have the back of Nathaniel Hackett. Shoot, you’d hope that. Because if not, then what on earth would have been happening inside the walls of Gang Green’s offensive meeting rooms in northern New Jersey?

So, when a former Broncos offensive lineman spoke up to defend Hackett, it came as no surprise. (Although it was a mild stunner when one realized that it was not Hackett’s close friend, two-time ex-Bronco Billy Turner.)

Thursday, center Connor McGovern blocked for his offensive coordinator in much the same manner as he hopes to protect Jets quarterback Zach Wilson on Sunday. He spoke to ESPN and used the word “payback.” McGovern noted that Hackett had not spoken with his offensive players about Denver.

“He has put his head down to grind. He doesn’t let stuff affect him,” McGovern said.

“But that organization did him dirty, and we definitely want to allow him to get some payback.”

“Payback” is fair. Umbrage over Sean Payton’s comments — with Hackett saying Thursday that his successor had not subsequently reached out to him? That’s fair, too.

But to say the Broncos “did him dirty” is a stretch. And that becomes more clear with every week.

A LAUNDRY LIST OF WOE

One can easily recite the litany of Nathaniel Hackett missteps.

Fawning over Russell Wilson at the introductory press conference. Attempting to install the entire breadth of an offensive scheme too soon, leading players to spend hours deep into the night trying to ingest it all — during OTAs. An experimental training camp that did nothing to prevent injuries. A staff with too many coaches making level jumps. Resting players for preseason games — and then coming out unprepared for the Week 1 cauldron of noise cooked up in Seattle. The end-game mismanagement in Seattle. Fans counting down the play clock a week later because the process of getting to the line of scrummage lagged. Poor end-game management against Indianapolis. One or fewer touchdowns in six of Hackett’s eight games as playcaller.

Ah, yes, the offense. Hackett called the plays through midseason. It was his area of expertise. He looked out of his depth attempting to manage the offense and the team at large. Even bringing in Jerry Rosburg to aid with game management didn’t help his play-calling. Installing Klint Kubiak to call plays didn’t help, either.

Consider this for a comparison: Wilson threw his 9th touchdown pass of the 2023 season on Sunday in Chicago. With Hackett, he didn’t reach that mark until Dec. 11.

Yes, injuries happened. But they transpire for every team. And that battered Broncos team looked better the moment that CEO Greg Penner gave the coach his walking papers the morning after the Christmas Day massacre in Inglewood, Calif.

And it was the fact that it immediately improved that proves why the Broncos didn’t do Hackett “dirty.”

IT BECAME CLEAR IMMEDIATELY AFTER DISMISSING NATHANIEL HACKETT

On Sept. 1 of last year, Jerry Rosburg was out of football — and had been for four years.

By Jan. 1, in just his seventh day on the job, he commandeered the Broncos to within a questionable offensive-pass-interference call of snapping the team’s 15-game losing streak to Kansas City, which was en route to its second Super Bowl win in four years.

And then he and the Broncos built on that by defeating the playoff-bound Chargers — and before you dismiss that by noting that they pulled their starters, remember that Denver led when many of Los Angeles’ first-teamers left the field, including quarterback Justin Herbert.

Despite the defense continuing its descent that lasted into September, Rosburg and play-caller Justin Outten crafted an attack that worked — and brought out Wilson’s best. The improvisation, the vertical throws, the never-say-die elan that long defined Wilson for his mostly-brilliant tenure.

Wilson accounted for 6 total touchdowns in Rosburg’s two games. It took him six games to reach the same mark with Hackett.

In total, Wilson has 15 total touchdowns in six games post-Hackett. In more than twice as many games on Hackett’s watch, Wilson had two fewer touchdowns.

Fifteen total touchdowns in six games with Rosburg or Sean Payton. Thirteen total touchdowns in 13 games played under Hackett.

Wilson literally has more than twice as many touchdowns per game — 2.5 — in his last six games than he did with Hackett, when he accounted for an average of one score per game.

It is readily apparent which piston wasn’t firing.

And it’s the one whose new offense with the Jets ranks in the bottom quarter of the NFL in numerous metrics.

One month into Payton’s tenure, we have an answer as to what was the real problem last year. And it wasn’t the man wearing jersey No. 3.

BUT HACKETT ISN’T THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

That said, Nathaniel Hackett isn’t the worst coach in Broncos history, contrary to what some believe. He wasn’t associated with illicitly recording an opponent’s walk-through, unlike Josh McDaniels.

And for those who put him in the class of Urban Meyer and Bobby Petrino, settle down. Hackett didn’t ditch his team the way Meyer did after a road loss and Petrino by departing via form letters in players’ locker-room stalls.

Meyer and Petrino were cowards. McDaniels cheated.

Hackett was neither of those things. And in general, a pretty good guy. He loves his family, his Star Wars, his Justin Timberlake songs.

But in the unforgiving calculus of the NFL, Hackett was responsible for the disaster. And his culpability grows with every passing week that Wilson continues to look like his Seattle self. He looks like the quarterback that the Broncos coveted.

And the thing is, Wilson appeared as he should in the VERY NEXT GAME after Hackett. It was like the flip of a switch. And Wilson has maintained that form ever since.

Lamentably for the Broncos, the Hackett year was a wasted one. And it’s more obvious every day. They didn’t do him “dirty” by firing him 15 games into his tenure.

If anything, they kept him around too long.

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