Waddle’s Struggles Stem From Denver's Disjointed Offense

The Denver Broncos can’t move the ball or score points, and everyone’s getting frustrated. That includes coach Sean Payton, former playcaller Davis Webb, running back J.K. Dobbins and quarterback Bo Nix. 

Add Jaylen Waddle to the list, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN. He had just two catches for 19 yards in Denver’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, and he was seen slamming his helmet in frustration after a failed third-down attempt. 

Everyone is weighing in with theories and opinions about why the Broncos offense isn’t working, and Legwold came up with intriguing comments about the problems. He started with the coaching, which has been getting a lot of attention lately.

Payton is pointing to the film, saying “there are a ton of things we're not doing well right now.”

Waddle’s production is one of the victims of those problem, as he’s had just one good game in five so far. He had a big game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3, but other than that he has just ten catches for 66 yards in four games. 

The receiver hasn’t been targeted as much, so that’s one problem. Waddle also blamed himself for a key drop against the San Francisco 49ers in the Broncos’ road loss to the Niners, and he’s failed to unlock the potential of other Denver receivers like Courtland Sutton. 

Most of this traces back to Nix, who in turn traces it to an inability to stay out of third-and-long situations. Legwold also talked anonymously to a longtime former NFL quarterback who said that Nix’s dropbacks and footwork have been off, which is disrupting the timing of the entire offense. 

This has left Waddle unable to make plays on crossing routes, which are one of his big strengths. The Broncos are seeing plenty of two-deep looks, though, so those aren’t available right now. 

Nix keeps saying the Broncos are “close” and “it’ll come," and Waddle agrees. But the Broncos have been saying this for weeks now, and the product on the field keeps looking the same. 

Denver’s game on Thurday night against the Seattle Seahawks represents yet another opportunity to fix all this, but we still haven’t really seen anything that indicates that it will change. The Broncos look like a .500 team at 3-2, and no one would be surprised to see them fall back to that mark. 

That would give the Broncos the same number of losses they had for all of last season, and it’s becoming clear that this is a very different team indeed.