The Broncos have made the playoffs in each of Bo Nix’s first two seasons under Sean Payton, but Denver is still looking for more from its offense. To help get there, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb takes over as offensive coordinator and will handle most of the play-calling duties, bringing an Air Raid background and a fresh perspective to the attack. The change comes at the same time Denver added Jaylen Waddle, giving Nix the most dynamic receiver he’s had to this point of his young NFL career. Dave Richard has ranked all 18 new play-callers from worst for Fantasy to best, and we’re going team by team through his rankings to see how your perception of every key player should change before Fantasy football draft season. Up next at No. 7: Davis Webb and the Broncos.Who’s new? Davis Webb is taking over most of the playcalling from Sean Payton as the Broncos’ new offensive coordinator. Payton claims he’ll still call some plays. Everyone in Denver touts how smart Webb is, but it might be how up-to-speed the former QB is with today’s game, and his ability to quickly get plays into the quarterback, which helped him land the gig. For what it’s worth, Webb played in the Air Raid offenses at Texas Tech (under Kliff Kingsbury) and at Cal. Nix also did plenty of Air Raid concepts at Oregon. What’s expected this year? Now that Webb will call plays, all of the tendencies Payton gave us for years aren’t as reliable. Denver’s decision to trade for Jaylen Waddle suggests an overhaul for the passing game. If it means more Air Raid concepts, then Waddle fits marvelously because of his versatility and suddenness, both of which Payton has talked about. Broncos folks have also lamented a run game that faded toward the end of the year. Rookie Jonah Coleman will help provide depth, but the return of a now-healthy JK Dobbins should especially give the team hope for a resurgence on the ground. Payton’s offenses have rarely been pass-crazy, save for some Drew Brees-led years; under Bo Nix, they’ve averaged a fine 58.1% pass rate.
Winners and losers for Fantasy It would be shocking if Waddle wasn’t featured. We’ve seen him crush it on deep targets, and we’ve seen him used as a short-area weapon (which he’d do a lot of in an Air Raid scheme). What we haven’t seen is Waddle get used like a No. 1 guy in a while because he played with Tyreek Hill, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a great running back to throw short to anytime he was in trouble. Those days are over — as long as Waddle is healthy, he stands to be a really good receiver in Denver. The more Waddle does, the less other Denver receivers will have the chance to do. Courtland Sutton’s been solid, but he’s not an easy fit for an Air Raid offense because he’s not as quick as Waddle or others. He’ll win in the red zone, and anytime the playcall reverts to their old system (key third downs make sense). The days of him averaging seven targets per game could be over. I know the Broncos want their run game to be more explosive, but it might mean keeping Dobbins healthy. He’s always had a good rushing average, including against stacked boxes, and his avoided tackle rate was a career-high last year. He’s a better bet in non-PPR because he doesn’t catch many passes, while R.J. Harvey could be a factor in the pass game and in the red zone. Rookie Jonah Coleman could ultimately work as a passing-downs guy and be the replacement for when (if?) Dobbins misses time. I suspect the playcaller change won’t impact how messy this backfield will be.
Nix won’t get taken as a top-12 QB but has sleeper potential because he’s gaining Waddle without losing anyone else, and could be utilized in an offense that’s tailored to his strengths. That could also mean a dip in interceptions and perhaps a rebound in TD rate (5.1% as a rookie, 4.1% as a sophomore).
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