Broncos coaching staff ranked shockingly low, but with a twist

The Denver Broncos coaching staff is led by Sean Payton, one of just seven active NFL head coaches with a Super Bowl win.

However, that occurred back in 2009 with the New Orleans Saints, and it seems like Payton is getting penalized for it happening 15 years ago.

A USA Today list earlier this summer had Payton as just the 16th best head coach in the NFL.

On Thursday, ESPN took it one step further. They ranked all 32 coaching staffs, and had the Broncos shockingly low at No. 23 in the league. However, the headline is a little misleading, as the author Ben Solak didn’t account for special teams coordinators or positional coaches.

So this is essentially just a list ranking the head coach and his offensive and defensive coordinators. Still, 23rd seems low with Payton leading the way.

“Payton was a master of offensive football for over a decade with the Saints, and while the game has changed some since the last time he was calling a top offense, it hasn’t changed that much,” Solak writes. “He will inevitably fall behind the millennial whiz kids spamming the Shanahan stuff.”

Solak goes on to say he’s worried about Payton “dumbing down” the Drew Brees offense for rookie QB Bo Nix. He says the offense isn’t known for “easy buttons,” and sometimes rookies need those.

It also doesn’t sound like the author is a fan of Denver DC Vance Joseph, which clearly hurt this overall ranking.

“Much like Payton, (Joseph) isn’t running anything that is ‘en vogue.’ Unlike Payton, that actually has been coming back to bite him pretty badly: His past two defenses ranked 26th and 30th in the league, respectively. Joseph needs to figure out some new ideas, and fast,” Solak writes.

After the Broncos gave up 70 points to the Dolphins early last season, many wondered if Joseph would get fired before the campaign ended. Instead, the unit turned it around, and was the catalyst to a five-game winning streak by forcing a huge number of turnovers.

Meanwhile, in the AFC West, the Raiders are 32nd on the list, the Chargers are 17th, and the Chiefs are No. 1 in the league. To read Solak’s full list and all his rules for coming up with it, click here.

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