Not only are fans relieved to have an end to the quarterback carousel, but so are the Denver Broncos players.
The Denver Broncos have finally addressed their post-Peyton Manning world with a blockbuster trade for former-Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, which ends a six season QB carousel. We’ll have to suffer through one more season of the infamous “QB Graphic” on national television, but at least it’ll be to point out that our wandering in the wilderness has finally ended.
As relieved as us fans are, the Broncos’ players are just as relieved and excited about the upcoming season. Garett Bolles was asked this week about how much has changed since Wilson has walked through the doors at Dove Valley.
“The culture has definitely changed for the better,” Bolles said. “Sometimes change can be a good thing, and sometimes it can be a bad thing. We’ve had a lot of change the last couple of years since I’ve been here, but every change has made me grow as a person. Not just me, but the guys around here. I think that we’ve grown up, especially the last couple of years with us not being a winning organization like we should be. We win off the field and sometimes that translates to the field, and I think that’s what we have to do. We got the missing pieces that we need. The ownership—that’s behind us and all of the things that were going on with that. Now we can just focus on ball. We have all the pieces that we need I’m really looking forward to the amazing season that we’re about to have.”
He makes a good point that change isn’t always good, but sometimes it is. In the context of quarterback it is safe to say that, aside from signing Peyton Manning, every move Denver made at the position from 2012 when they drafted Brock Osweiler to signing Teddy Bridgewater last season it was not a change for the better on the field. The losing from 2016-2021 was tough to bear.
Now with that period behind us, there is much to be excited about with Wilson here. Bolles noted the most important factor in a follow up comment when he said that consistency was one of the most important factors regarding Wilson being here for the foreseeable future.
“Consistency,” Bolles said of Wilson being in Denver moving forward. “I think that it’s what I needed. Like I said, when I can control what I can control, which is making myself compete at a high level [while] being mature about it, focused and being detail oriented. I think that it starts with me with the guys up front. Guys look at me, and I have to do my job. When I do my job, everyone else plays better. It gives ‘3’ (QB Russell Wilson) enough time to be back there and to fire to our star receivers or give the ball to our running back’s hands. Consistency is a huge thing for us. The more consistency we have, the better we will be down the road.”
That is a poignant detail Bolles shared. Denver may not have the chemistry to go all the way in year one, but the longer Wilson is in Denver with these guys the more likely they’ll bring everything together for a serious championship run in the near future.
And that is something to be very excited about it, especially after the last six seasons.
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