The Denver Broncos will enter a make-or-break season in 2023.
Not only did they give away most of their valuable draft capital to land Russell Wilson and Sean Payton, but they also signed Wilson to a huge contract extension before he even made his debut with the team.
Wilson had the worst season of his career, and there was even some chatter about his teammates not liking him or him possibly being benched.
Of course, Nathaniel Hackett didn’t do him any favors, and the team as a whole flopped badly, but Wilson looked out of place and over his head on every single snap.
So, now that the Broncos have hired an elite coach in Payton, some question whether that’ll be enough to get the Wilson of old back on the gridiron, wondering if Payton can ‘fix’ him.
But according to former player Marcellus Wiley, you cannot fix this version of Wilson.
Instead, all you can do is give him the scheme and system he thrives in and just hope for the best:
“No, you can’t fix Russell Wilson,” Wiley said on The Dan Patrick Show. “What you can do is dress Russell Wilson up. You gotta give him the proper assets, resources — they have players. What you have to do is give him the scheme; you gotta give him the system that he wants to play in. Being real, evaluating Russell Wilson, he licks his chops when the plays break down. Now, last year, he didn’t have success when the plays were breaking down. But typically, Russell Wilson will look at a play, call that play, and hope that play doesn’t work so Russell Wilson can now be Russell Wilson.
Can Sean Payton fix Russell Wilson? DP and @MarcellusWiley discussed today in their weekly conversation. #Broncos
For Marcellus' full appearance: https://t.co/9LMgM1XY77 pic.twitter.com/G8fqZqrMz2
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 2, 2023
Wilson has a nice set of offensive weapons in the passing game, like Jerry Jeudy, Greg Dulcich, and Courtland Sutton, and the Broncos still boast one of the best defensive units in the league.
So, as washed-out and out of sync as he looked in his first year at Mile High, there’s still a chance that he takes a step forward next season and does just enough for them to be back in the playoffs.
If not, then the Broncos might be forced to make an unpleasant decision.
NEXT: Sean Payton Comments On Working With Russell Wilson
