Payton Divulges Acclimation Process for Broncos QB Zach Wilson

Wilson will compete for a spot in the room.

Nov 24, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson (2) warms up / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Zach Wilson ingratiated himself to the Denver Broncos coaching staff, so the Broncos coaching staff is ingratiating itself to the newly arrived quarterback.

Speaking to his plan for Wilson, acquired via trade in late April, Denver head coach Sean Payton explained that the former Jets starter will be on equal ground with first-round rookie Bo Nix and 2023 incumbent Jarrett Stidham amid the team's QB competition(s).

“Exactly how we started with Bo or Jarrett," Payton said of Wilson's acclimation. "It’s just, ‘Come on in, let’s get going.’ Meaning, we start from the snap count, the cadence. We want to work kind of like he’d be a rookie. Certainly, ‘Stiddy’ [Stidham] is not a rookie, but when ‘Stiddy’ came here from the Raiders, he began that process of getting acclimated to all the things unique to what he has to here relative to the offense, relative to the way this team operates. It’s kind of getting acclimated and trying to do it as quickly as possible.”

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Wilson, 24, was dealt to Denver in a pick-swap salary dump days before the Broncos selected Nix, who's widely expected to earn the starting job this summer, relegating the 2021 second overall pick to a battle for backup scraps.

In his defense, Wilson does offer something that neither Nix nor Stidham can't (yet): tangible NFL experience — 34 career starts, nearly 1,000 passes attempted. And it counts to Payton.

"We were really happy to bring Zach on board. ... We really liked that opportunity," he said on April 25. "There were a number of veteran backups that signed contracts, and yet we saw talent with a player that just three years ago was the No. 2 pick in the draft. We really like his traits."

The next step in the process are Organized Team Activities scheduled to run May 21-23, when Broncos veterans and rookies practice together for the first time and QB reps will be divided amongst the three.

Divided, how? TBD.

“We’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out," Payton said last week. "The times where we’ve gone with four [quarterbacks] is when you have a veteran maybe that you’re going to give… In fairness to [recently-released QB] Ben DiNucci—he and I spoke for a long time—with young guys, the reps are important. But we’ll have a rotation, and we’ll go from there.”

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