There’s only one way to untangle the Webb inside the Broncos’ quarterback room right now. And that’s to let Davis Webb, newly promoted to offensive coordinator, take the call sheet and make it his own.
Full disclosure No. 1: The football wonks on the Grading The Week staff can’t see it happening, though. And we also hope like heck that we’re wrong.
Broncos “promote” Davis Webb — A
Full disclosure No. 2: The GTW wise apples are big fans of Webb, the former NFL backup, who, at just 31 years old, is by all accounts a rising star in NFL circles. He’s shown he can handle the call sheet in the preseason — he just needs more practical experience at “regular-season” speed. During an exhibition rout of Arizona this past summer, his offense scored 27 points and piled up 562 yards, good for an average of 7.8 per play. With Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger at quarterback, by the way.
Full disclosure No. 3: Team GTW thinks it was a great move by Broncos ownership — and coach Sean Payton — not to let Webb walk out that door, even though some places were allegedly ready to make the young man a very young head coach.
Full disclosure No. 4: There’s no salary cap for coaches or staffers in the NFL. The GTW crew thinks this is where the Walton-Penner Group can flex its financial muscles in ways even the salad days of The Bowlen Years could not. If the richest owners in North American sports really want something, they should never, ever, ever, be outbid for it. Period.
Sean Payton as a play-caller — C-minus
Full disclosure No. 5: You don’t give Webb a raise and a new job title just to make him a glorified QB coach, even though he was already a pretty darned good one, at that. So, to that end, the kids up in the GTW offices think Broncos ownership should ask Bo Nix who he would prefer to have shouting in his ear with a play-call when there’s a playoff game on the line. Simple.
Full disclosure No. 6: We really, really, really, really, really, really have a hard time believing Payton will ever give up offensive play-calling. Or the final word on offensive play-calls, at any rate.
When you’re in the NFL, teams and bosses and uniforms come and go — your personal brand is what you take with you as your trademark and your value. Peyton Manning got cut once. He never stopped being The Sheriff. Sunshine Sean is The Riverboat Gambler, The Man Who Saved The Saints. Like all successful coaches, he’s a complete control freak. The GTW gang just hopes someone explains to him that giving up some of that control just might help make him the first coach to win Super Bowls with two different franchises. Because he’s knocking at the door right now. A little flexibility with Webb might get him over the threshold. And into history.
Nuggets’ chess moves with Tyson, Jones — B
Hunter Tyson was a Summer League legend, but shipping him out to get Spencer Jones’ contract converted was a no-brainer. If the Nuggets’ two-headed front-office monster of Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer can turn their new vacant roster spot into Chris Boucher or Haywood Highsmith via the buyout market, it could look like a stroke of semi-genius. Gotta replenish that forward depth with Aaron Gordon or Peyton Watson on the mend.
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