Tag: Touchdown Wire

Touchdown Wire predicts Broncos will go 5-12 in 2024

Touchdown Wire predicts the Broncos will go 5-12 this season. Seems a bit harsh!

Sean Payton appears to have his work cut out for him with the 2024 Denver Broncos.

Payton enters Year 2 of his regime after a modest 8-9 start to his first year as head coach. However, with several key players such as Justin Simmons and Russell Simmons gone, Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller thinks that the Broncos may take a significant step back, especially with uncertainty at quarterback.

Wilson’s departure allowed Payton to draft Bo Nix and trade for Zach Wilson beforehand. But with two unproven quarterbacks potentially at the helm, could that halt the Bronco’s progress? Miller thinks the lack of star power behind the center won’t help.

“This Broncos team has a lot to prove with not a ton of star power outside of Patrick Surtain and Garett Bolles,” Miller wrote. “Whoever wins the quarterback battle will need to fully embrace the Sean Payton system in order to overcome the talent gap in the rest of the AFC West.

“Defensively, this team should still field a respectable unit. If this team cannot get good quarterback play over one of their new signal callers, it could be a long season for everyone in Denver.”

Miller’s season preview ended with a 5-12 record prediction for the Broncos. To read Miller’s full breakdown, visit Touchdown Wire.  

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Jonathon Cooper named Broncos’ most underrated player

“[Jonathon] Cooper tends to prove that he should be playing more often than he is,” Doug Farrar said about the pass rusher.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar recently released his rankings of every NFL team’s most underrated player and he picked pass rusher Jonathon Cooper for the Denver Broncos.

It’s easy to see why Cooper was Farrar’s pick. The edge defender broke into a deep pass rotation at Ohio State and was later picked by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft. Since then, he has emerged as one of the team’s best pass rushers.

“[Cooper] once again had to break through limited reps to prove that he belonged,” Farrar wrote on Touchdown Wire. “It all kicked in last season, as Cooper set career highs in sacks (nine) and total pressures (55) on 421 pass-rushing snaps. Eventually, Cooper tends to prove that he should be playing more often than he is, and he does it against the best possible competition.”

Cooper will be competing for a starting job this summer across from Baron Browning. His competition will include Nik Bonitto (a second-round pick in 2022) and Jonah Elliss (a third-round pick this year). Cooper has been overcoming the odds since his time with the Buckeyes, and he’ll aim to continue doing so in 2024.

To view Farrar’s complete underrated players list, visit Touchdown Wire.

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Broncos’ Sean Payton ranked 16th among NFL head coaches

Touchdown Wire ranked Sean Payton 16th among NFL head coaches. The list of coaches ranked above him includes Shane Steichen and Zac Taylor.

Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey recently released his rankings for the top head coaches in the NFL, ranked 32nd (last) to first. On his rankings, Andy Reid, Sean McVay, and Mike Tomlin are his top three. Jerod Mayo, Matt Eburflus, and Dennis Allen are the bottom three.

However, squarely in the middle is Denver Broncos head man Sean Payton, who ranks 16th. While many would probably put the one-time Super Bowl champion a bit higher, Bailey isn’t using the days of way back to dictate his rankings of Payton. His reasoning? Two words: Bo Nix.

“I wish I could just write “Bo Nix” and move on because that’s basically my thoughts on the Broncos,” Bailey wrote. “I don’t want to hear about a “Sean Payton bump” either — he had plenty of seven and eight-win seasons with Drew Brees. Denver is going to be bad, and Payton will still be around, but it’s okay to acknowledge that this isn’t 2009 Sean Payton anymore.”

Is this true? Only time will tell. Payton knew that this would be a rebuilding project, and the Broncos’ giving Payton a five-year deal shows they are committed to providing time and resources to their head coach. Let’s see if Nix and Payton can take the Broncos to new heights in 2024.

To view Bailey’s complete NFL coach rankings, visit Touchdown Wire.

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Broncos star Pat Surtain ranked as NFL’s 4th-best cornerback

Touchdown Wire ranked Pat Surtain as the fourth-best cornerback in the NFL. A little too low in our estimation.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar recently ranked Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain as the fourth-best cornerback in the NFL.

Surtain has built quite the resume in his young career as a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro selection in 2022. And with last season’s stats — 69 tackles, 12 passes defended, and one interception — it’s easy to understand why Farrar ranked Surtain in his top-five corners.

“Surtain still managed to set himself apart,” Farrar wrote. “In 2023, he allowed 56 catches on 89 targets for 701 yards, 202 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, one interception, 12 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 93.9.”

Farrar stated that Surtain gets shown some grace: performing at an elite level despite the level of performance around him defensively suffering.

“You have to give Surtain some grace for maintaining a standard of performance when everything was cratering around him, and in 2023, he improved on locking down his transitions in intermediate and deep coverage — one of my rare hesitations about him in previous years when it came to ranking him at the top of the field.”

Who are the players ranked above him? Sauce Gardner, L’Jarius Sneed, and Jaylon Johnson are great company for Surtain. To view the complete rankings of outside cornerbacks, visit Touchdown Wire.

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Where is Robert Saleh in Touchdown Wire’s head coach rankings entering 2024?

Where does Robert Saleh fall in Touchdown Wire’s head coach rankings entering the 2024 season?

Robert Saleh is entering his fourth season as Jets head coach and is still looking for his first winning season. The Jets have finished 7-10 each of the last two seasons following a 4-13 year in Saleh’s rookie campaign. Everyone in the building is hoping the 2024 season will be a much better one with the returning Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. If not, major changes will occur, in all likelihood.

Needless to say, Saleh isn’t quite regarded as one of the top coaches in the NFL. But where does he rank overall? Jarrett Bailey gave his thoughts as he ranked all 32 head coaches for Touchdown Wire. So where did Saleh land in Bailey’s list?

Saleh is all the way down at No. 28. Here’s what Bailey said about him:

Robert Saleh has accomplished nothing since taking over as Jets head coach. And while last season felt like a cruel joke from the Football Gods, this is still very much a do or die year for Saleh. He is 18-33 in three seasons at the helm. If the Jets fail to make the postseason in 2024, there is no reason why he should return as head coach.

The only coaches ranked lower than Saleh on this list were:

29. Brian Daboll, Giants
30. Jerod Mayo, Patriots
31. Matt Eberflus, Bears
32. Dennis Allen, Saints

With the level of hype around the Jets high, there is a lot of pressure on Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. It’s all or nothing in 2024.

Jets right in middle of latest Touchdown Wire power rankings

Jets right in middle of latest Touchdown Wire power rankings

The Jets have a good-looking roster. On paper. Of course, football is not played on paper. There are valid injury concerns with the Jets and how all the new pieces will gel together. In some ways, the Jets are a tough team to project. That’s exactly why Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey has the Jets right smack in the middle of his latest power rankings, checking in at No. 16.

The Jets are such a difficult team to project. Defensively, they’ll be good, but how good will Aaron Rodgers be? Even so, they did bring in multiple new offensive linemen, which was much needed after the tumultuous year they had. With all the uncertainty surrounding Rodgers and how he’ll bounce back, though, they get placed directly in the middle.

As a note, these rankings came out before the Jets acquired edge-rusher Haason Reddick from the Philadelphia Eagles, so it will be interesting to see how that addition changes the Jets’ outlook in some of these power rankings. But for now, right in the middle feels about right. They certainly look much better than last season, but there’s valid worry about a 40-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles injury. However, the protection in front of him should be much better and the weapons are improved with the addition of wide receiver Mike Williams.

At the very least, the Jets should be in playoff contention and be in a three-horse race with the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins for the AFC East title.

Jets grab Joe Alt in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft

Jets grab Joe Alt in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft

Could Joe Alt actually be available for the Jets when they come on the board at No. 10? In the latest mock draft from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, that scenario actually plays out and the Jets gladly grab the Notre Dame product with the pick.

A run of quarterbacks and wide receivers help push the offensive tackles down the board for the Jets as four quarterbacks go in the top eight along with four wide receivers among the first nine picks. The Titans selected Olu Fashanu of Penn State at No. 7.

If Alt is somehow on the board for the Jets, they should sprint the podium with the card for the selection. This mock is an example that the Jets are still in a good position to have their pick of the litter with how quarterbacks will be pushed up the board. The Jets do pass on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers – who lands with the Bengals at 18 — but getting Alt would solidify one of their tackle spots for years to come (the Jets hope at least).

Jets land Joe Alt in latest Touchdown Wire mock draft

Jets land Joe Alt in latest Touchdown Wire mock draft

Another day, another mock draft giving the Jets an offensive tackle. While it may start to sound boring, it makes a lot of sense with the state of the position for the Jets entering the offseason.

This time around, we’re looking at the latest mock draft from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, following a week of practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. The tackle going to the Jets in this mock was not in Mobile, however, but will still be one of the first tackles taken in the draft — Notre Dame’s Joe Alt.

With the Jets sitting at No. 10 in the draft order, Alt, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga could all be in contention to be the newest offensive tackle for the Jets. In this case, the Jets had their choice of Alt and Fuaga — Fashanu was selected No. 4 by the Arizona Cardinals.

Fashanu had a nice week at the Senior Bowl and will make a case for a top-ten selection. In this mock, he went at No. 13 to the Las Vegas Raiders. What this shows is that if the Jets want a top offensive tackle in this draft, they should be in position to land one. The last thing they want to happen is a repeat of last season where after trading back to No. 15, they watched as the Patriots trade the No. 14 pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who selected Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones. The Jets then took Iowa State edge Will McDonald at No. 15.

The Jets should be in a good spot, but a lot can and will happen, so stay tuned.