Is this Seahawks defense better than the ‘Legion of Boom’? Plus, a Jarrett Stidham scouting report
With Bo Nix suffering a season-ending ankle injury late in Denver’s Divisional Round win over Buffalo, Jarrett Stidham has been thrust into the starting lineup of the AFC Championship Game. Consequently, many folks no longer view the Broncos as true title contenders. While the angst is expected, based on Stidham’s lack of experience — four career starts, with the most recent coming in the final week of the 2023 season — the football world should not dismiss Denver’s chances of winning the tournament with the former fourth-round pick under center.
Stidham doesn’t have significant game experience, but he flashed enough talent in limited action to get Sean Payton’s attention. Stidham likely piqued the Super Bowl-winning coach’s interest with a striking performance in his first start with the Silver and Black in Week 17 of the 2022 campaign. In that contest against the 49ers, he completed 23 of 34 passes for 365 pass yards and three touchdowns (against a pair of interceptions). Subsequently, one of Payton’s first moves upon arrival in Denver was signing Stidham to a two-year, $10 million deal as Russell Wilson’s backup. The Broncos, of course, jettisoned Wilson after one season, but they’ve kept Stidham around all along, signing him to a two-year, $12 million extension last offseason.
Within Payton’s system, Stidham has shown promise, averaging 248 yards passing during a two-start stint at the end of the ’23 campaign. And he displayed encouraging development this past summer with a sizzling showing in the preseason, completing 78.9 percent of his passes for 376 yards (at a whopping 9.9 yards per attempt) with a 4:0 TD-to-INT ratio and 143.0 passer rating. Granted, he faced vanilla looks, but the veteran carved them up with surgical precision.
Stidham’s accuracy, anticipation and timing allowed the Broncos to stay on schedule and utilize a quick-rhythm passing game in the preseason. As a nimble athlete who is comfortable throwing on the move on bootlegs and sprint-out passes, the veteran could excel in a game plan Payton carefully crafts to accentuate his strengths and mask his deficiencies within the pocket. Additionally, Payton will complement the movement-based passing game with a diverse screen attack that involves running backs (swings and slow screens) and wide receivers (flash and jailbreak screens on the perimeter). Those high-percentage throws can help the Broncos stay on schedule while Payton builds up his backup’s confidence with enough completions that he finds the strike zone in mid-range and vertical tosses.
