National Football League

Russell Wilson's top priority? Keeping the Broncos out of last place

Updated Jul. 28, 2022 6:03 p.m. ET

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By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

It is dangerous business to make statements of absolute certainty more than a month out from the start of the NFL season, but here is one for you.

Someone is going to finish last in the AFC West. Yep, I really stuck my neck out there, didn’t I?

Trying to figure out who the bottom feeder is going to be, however, is not such a simple task.

Russell Wilson's primary task in his new gig with Denver Broncos? Making sure it is not him.

There will be other goals, naturally, as there should be. But top of the list should be more about getting away from "worst" rather than getting to "first."

Russell Wilson shows up to Broncos training camp in own jersey | THE HERD

Russell Wilson got football fans' attentions when he was spotted walking his own jersey to the Denver Broncos' training camp.

On one hand, Wilson's job is laden with difficulty, not least because a combo of the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders pits the Broncos in the biggest flex-fest division known to football.

To compound that, the impending purchase of the franchise by the Walton-Penner family means expectations will be elevated, and orange-clad fans – burned so badly by Wilson’s Seattle Seahawks in a frosty New York Super Bowl eight years ago – are thirsting that their one-time tormentor is the ideal choice to gift them brighter days.

At the same time, the difficulty level of Denver’s specific spot is lost on no one. It would take a harsh critic to describe Wilson’s remit as Super Bowl-or-bust, or anything remotely close to it. 

FOX Bet has Denver odds to take the AFC West listed at +275 — the third-best odds to win the division. Kansas City at +170 is favored to win the AFC West.

So who can the Broncos clamber above to move away from the foot of the division? The Chargers, primed with ever-improving young quarterback Justin Herbert about to enter his third year and coming off a campaign where the team was a Brandon Staley brain fart away from making the postseason?

The Raiders, with Davante Adams and his whopping contract only the tip of an incoming crop to help new head coach Josh McDaniels just win, baby?

What about – snort – Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs, AFC Championship participants for the past four seasons and owners of a 13-game win streak against the Broncos? Didn’t think so.

Rarely have hope and pessimism swirled together with such a comfortable blend as with these Broncos. Last season ended with a 7-10 record and last place in the division. Clearly, the squad looks better now. Denver hasn’t had a QB of such pedigree since Peyton Manning.

Getting Wilson under center is manifestly an upgrade over the last few seasons of Teddy Bridgewater, Drew Lock, Joe Flacco, Case Keenum and Trevor Siemian. The Broncos’ last Super Bowl, seven years back, came on the back of defensive dominance and much will be expected from that unit again.

And then there is the implied power of positive vibes. It's rather safe to assume Wilson accepted this task believing he can make big things happen.

"Standing on the corner in the league’s toughest neighborhood, the Broncos whistle a happy tune in the long shadow of their recent failures, certain that if they hop on the bandwagon driven by Wilson, everybody will be a happy camper, rolling down the road to the Super Bowl," veteran columnist Mark Kiszla, wrote in The Denver Post.

Surely no one is swilling the Kool-Aid to quite that degree, but the emotions of a football fan have always been a fickle instrument.

A reminder is due, then, that nothing is won at this time of year. The sight of Wilson striding into camp wearing a throwback version of his own jersey elicited some smiles. He’s also been putting himself about on the Denver social scene, firmly embracing the role of community figurehead as he did in Seattle. It is the sort of thing to make a fan feel good. In terms of Xs and Os, it’s a small-scale intangible, at best.

You can confidently predict that the Broncos will be a more competent football outfit this year. But improvement doesn’t automatically mean good enough to finally get one over on the Chiefs, consistent enough to shrug off the Raiders or dynamic enough to punch through the Chargers. Of course, there is big talk – more than one Denver player openly dreamed of parades through the Mile High streets. That’s a worthy goal, but an outrageously lofty one.

"We had the big trade," general manager George Paton told reporters. "It was game-changing. We know what type of player Russell is. It doesn’t do us any good to talk about it. We have to do it. But we are fired up inside this building, inside these walls."

It has been a long and infuriating waiting game for the Broncos. That Super Bowl 50 triumph was also the last time the team made the playoffs. In the intervening period, the Chiefs have emerged as a preeminent force in football, the Raiders moved to Sin City and got serious, the Chargers left San Diego and found themselves a stud QB.

Wilson is and should be on the hook for arresting the slump and overseeing some genuine improvement. As for anything more, those aspirations are best kept in the category of "welcome bonus."

The Broncos are swimming with sharks and the immediate priority is to not get eaten up. Either by their circling opponents — or their own expectations.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.

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Martin Rogers