Denver Broncos, Briefly: Will Sean Payton Bring in Taysom Hill? Nik Bonitto Injured
Nik Bonitto was injured at Denver Broncos training camp on Tuesday, the extent isn't known yet. And will Denver sign Taysom Hill?
Will Sean Payton bring Taysom Hill to the Denver Broncos?
And what exactly would Hill bring to the Broncos?
Also, Nik Bonitto left practice on Tuesday due to injury, Denver's favored to win the AFC West, Bo Nix was ranked 18th-best again, and stadium renderings were released.
Is Sean Payton Really Going to Sign Taysom Hill?
This weekend, the coaching legend is presenting Drew Brees as his former quarterback goes into the Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.
And when asked if he will consider signing the free agent tight end/quarterback/running back, Payton told Steve Wyche he will explore it. Not only that, he said he'll talk to Hill at the Hall of Fame this weekend.
But the Denver Broncos signing Taysom Hill would be more trouble than he's worth.
For one, he's washed. Hill was a dynamic player in 2020 and 2022. Those years he rushed for 457 yards and 8 TDs (2020) with another 98 yards and a touchdown through the air. And then he had a career-high 575 rushing yards and 7 scores on the ground with another 2 TDs through the air in 2022. He also threw the ball 121 times in 2020 for another 4 touchdowns that year, but by 2022 his passing had all but ceased.
Since then, his numbers have dropped off considerably.
Last year Hill had a career-low 114 rushing yards and a sad 2.2 yards per carry average. He only scored once on the ground, and also had 11 receptions for 91 yards.
Yes, Sean Payton loves trick plays—he called a fake punt in the Divisional Round game against the Bills only to have his team check away from it—and he loves his guys. See: Wil Lutz, Adam Trautman, and Darren Rizzi.
But I'm not in favor of Taysom Hill taking snaps away from Bo Nix at quarterback, Evan Engram at tight end, or from Marvin Mims in the backfield. Mims has been the trick back Payton has used the last three years, including 12 rushes for 78 yards and a touchdown last year. I'd rather have one of the fastest players in the NFL running the ball on trick plays than the 36-year old Hill.
So, should the Broncos sign Taysom Hill? No. Hell no.
Nik Bonitto Leaves Field Due to Injury
According to Andrew Mason, superstar edge rusher Nik Bonitto left the practice field under his own power after an apparent injury on Tuesday.
Andrew Mason
Considering it was under his own power, hopefully it's a minor injury for Bonitto. Denver has to have him at full strength this year as their leading EDGE and second-best defender behind Patrick Surtain.
He's also even more important considering all the issues surrounding Jonathon Cooper. While Cooper, the second-best EDGE, is in camp he could get suspended from the NFL for his ongoing domestic violence case.
We likely won't know the extent of the injury until the next few days. Yesterday, starting center Luke Wattenburg was injured and was back at practice but just on the sidelines observing.
Broncos Favored to Win AFC West
According to CBS Sportsline, the Denver Broncos are favored to win the AFC West for a second straight year.
Per CBS, Denver's got almost a 50% chance to win back-to-back divisional crowns, 49.6% to be exact. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are second at 26.8%, the Chargers are third at 23.2% and the Raiders have basically no shot (0.4%).
Ironically, according to betting odds the Chiefs are favored to win the West, the Chargers are second, and the Broncos are third.
That's a giant difference from between what Las Vegas and the bettors think will happen this year vs. the computer simulation that CBS ran. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
Bo Nix is the 18th-best QB in the NFL
A month ago, I looked around the nation at all the QB Rankings; most of them had Bo Nix ranked around No. 20. I graded him as the league's 18th-best quarterback this year.
A few days later, ESPN's rankings came in from executives, scouts and coaches. Where'd they put Nix? Exactly at 18th.
Now the Athletic's asked executives, scouts, and coaches on their own. Again, Nix is 18th.
From the rankings:
“Good player, dynamic, can run a little bit,” an exec said. “He plays big in big moments. But just as easily as he can win games for you, he can lose games for you. They are as good as they are largely because their defense is as good as it is, and Sean Payton does a nice job helping him make plays within his skill set.”
It's a fair assessment and true. He can win games, he can lose them, too.
Overall, he's been inconsistent and has a lot of room for improvements. But has excelled at negative play rate and even when blitzed. Nix has been fantastic in fourth quarters but has struggled in the first three quarters in many games.
Now You See the Stadium, Now You Don't
The Denver Broncos released renderings of the new stadium. Well, kind of. They mostly released renderings of the neighborhood they'll build around the stadium.
The stadium renderings themselves have not been released and they have it as a greyish dome in the middle of the neighborhood.
Last week, Broncos President Damani Leech explained the team is still hoping the new stadium opens in 2031. That's when the lease on the land where Empower Field at Mile High Stadium runs out.
He also said it would mean starting construction next spring or early summer to hit that target. And yet, they don't have finished renderings of what the stadium itself will even look like. Keep in mind that renderings often change over time, too.
Leech also explained that the neighborhood will likely take decades to complete, and the organization is hopeful they'll host a Super Bowl before the neighborhood improvements are finished.
I encourage you to check out the rest of the renderings of the neighborhood, which are pretty awesome, honestly.
Speaking of renderings, I was told by fans on the Broncos subreddit that the team had released stadium renderings already. Fans were mad when I wrote about the uproar from NFL players about NFL stadiums putting grass fields into indoor stadiums for the World Cup.
Denver's new retractable roof stadium will almost certainly be turf—as basically every other indoor stadium is besides Las Vegas and Arizona, where they wheel the entire field outside and let it grow in the late fall/winter because they're in a desert—even though Greg Penner says of now he "hopes" it will be grass. Again, just like the renderings, many things are up for changes as time goes on.
The Broncos have had trouble keeping the grass green at Empower in the fall/winter for years. That's why they put new grass in mid-season last year. I don't see how they'll keep grass alive in a retractable roof stadium for an entire season, which is different from a few weeks for the World Cup.
Of course, I'd be thrilled if they did go with grass and have a way to keep it alive. That would be best for the players and the product on the field. I also want the team to play in snow and rain, but I expect the roof will be closed when it's cold and/or snowy, even if Penner also said he "hopes" they'll be playing in the elements.
Football should be played in the elements, as opposed to indoor sports and baseball.
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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.
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