Broncos Coach Given Opportunity to Help Find Russell Wilson Replacement

The Denver Broncos will have a trusted set of eyes and ears at the Shrine Bowl to get an up-close look at a few 2024 quarterback prospects for the NFL draft.

Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb has been selected this week to serve as the offensive coordinator for the West team in the East/West Shrine Bowl, as reported by Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette. It's a unique opportunity for Webb to showcase his Xs and Os acumen and perhaps reveals how much working under Sean Payton, even if for just one season, has helped add some sizzle to his NFL coaching star. 

However, Webb's first year as an NFL head coach was a mixed bag. Hired to coach the Broncos' quarterbacks just weeks after starting an NFL game at the position himself, Webb arrived in the Mile High City having been charged with helping Payton revive Russell Wilson's flagging career.

One year later, and Wilson looks to be on his way out of Denver, while Webb will be dispatched by the Broncos to get an up-close look at 2024 quarterback prospects like BYU's Kedon Slovis, Kentucky's Devon Leary, and Western Kentucky's Austin Reed. While he won't participate in practice or the game, intriguing Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis will be available for interviews at the Shrine Bowl, though Webb might be too tied up coaching to have much access to him. 

Left to right: Davis Webb, Sean Payton, and Russell Wilson.  / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

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Webb is just 28 years old and began his coaching career in 2023 after six years as an NFL journeyman quarterback. Under his stewardship, Wilson took some significant steps forward this past season, passing for 26 touchdowns in 15 starts — the most by a Broncos quarterback since Peyton Manning in 2014 — with just eight interceptions. 

Wilson's TD-to-INT ratio was a healthy one, but it didn't translate to passing yardage, which significantly held back the Broncos' offense in Year 1 of the Payton regime. While it was clear that Payton and Webb (by extension) were a net positive on Wilson, several of the warts that were exacerbated under Nathaniel Hackett experiment persisted. 

Wilson still took too many sacks, showed poor pocket awareness, struggled to read the field, and turned the ball over a lot. He only tossed eight interceptions, true, but he also fumbled a whopping 10 times.

That, combined with Wilson's almost stubborn resistance to staying on schedule rankled Payton, purportedly. After losing back-to-back games the Broncos absolutely had to have, a frustrated Payton pulled the plug on Wilson, inserting Jarrett Stidham into the starting lineup, which also protected the Broncos from the possibility of an injury that would trigger $30-plus million in guarantees for the nine-time Pro Bowler in 2024. 

Now, how much of Wilson's success and failure to fully launch should be laid at the feet of his first-time position coach is up for debate. But entering 2024, the Broncos are on the hunt for a future franchise quarterback to succeed Wilson, and Webb's presence at the Shrine Bowl could help in that effort.

Although it's highly unlikely that any of the quarterbacks Webb will be coaching are serious contenders to be Denver's future franchise guy, it will provide some critical information in the team's pursuit of Wilson's replacement. The Shrine Bowl will take place on February 1 in Frisco, Texas. 

The Broncos hold the No. 12 overall pick in this year's draft, which is scheduled to kick off on April 27. If the Broncos hold onto the pick, it'll be the first Day 1 pick the team has made since selecting Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II at No. 9 overall back in 2021. 

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