With a new head coach in Nathaniel Hackett, the Broncos will begin their offseason program on Monday.
That means Hackett and his staff will begin to teach Denver’s new offense — centered around quarterback Russell Wilson.
“It’s so important to make sure he’s comfortable in everything that he does,” Hackett said at the NFL’s annual meeting, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN. “From the cadence to the way that you just call a play is so important because when you go out there and all 80,000 people are screaming at you, you want it to be natural. ... We do so much of the same stuff [as Wilson did with the Seattle Seahawks]. It’s just about getting that language to be able to cross over.”
Wilson threw for 3,113 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions last season in 14 games — missing three contests with a finger injury. He was selected to his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl and ninth overall. But Wilson and the Seahawks finished with a losing record for the first time since the franchise drafted him in 2012.
Hackett went through a process of implementing a scheme with a successful veteran quarterback in 2019 when he became Matt LaFleur’s offensive coordinator with Green Bay. Given that experience with Aaron Rodgers, Hackett said recently that he’s going to emphasize what Wilson does best when putting together the playbook.
“There were a lot of great meetings that we had between the three of us on what’s the right thing to do, what’s better for us, and what’s better for him,” Hackett said. “I think going through that process with a veteran quarterback and Matt and watching that whole thing happen was awesome.”
There’s a long way to go before even training camp begins in the summer. But the work Hackett and Wilson put in now in fostering their relationship and crafting a playbook will affect how things go in their first season together.