Broncos QBs Coach Davis Webb Recognized as a Rising Star in the NFL

Two years into his NFL coaching career, it's safe to say that Davis Webb's cache has skyrocketed. Leaving the NFL's quarterback ranks as a player in January of 2023 to follow Sean Payton was a big jump and a fast one, but Webb has done a great job as quarterbacks coach of the Denver Broncos.

Webb's stock has risen so dramatically that he made The Athletic's 'NFL 50 Under 40' list, which highlights "young ascending coaches" and other league "difference-makers."

"In a season all about the development of high-profile rookie quarterbacks, Bo Nix’s steady growth in Denver wasn’t just a product of Sean Payton’s scheme. Webb, a former Texas high school quarterback who played at Texas Tech and Cal and then for a brief stint in the NFL, was handpicked by Payton to work with Nix/an incoming young quarterback as the team considered its options post-Russell Wilson. Webb was among those whose opinions Payton leaned on when deciding to draft Nix, the head coach said in June," The Athletic wrote.

Indeed, Webb's impact has been felt under center early on. In Year 1, Webb helped Russell Wilson restabilize his NFL career statistically, even if it didn't translate to enough wins, and ended with Payton benching the veteran quarterback. Year 2 is when Fortune truly smiled on Webb as the Broncos landed Bo Nix in the first round.

Nix would go on to deliver a historic rookie campaign, passing for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns (second-most by a rookie in NFL history), leading all league rookies despite being the sixth quarterback taken in the 2024 NFL draft. The Broncos won 10 games and snapped their eight-year playoff drought, though it was a short-lived run that ended in the first round in Buffalo.

Fast forward to the 2025 NFL hiring cycle, and the 30-year-old Webb was linked to a few jobs around the league that would have been promotions relative to job title and responsibility. Fortunately, it appears that Payton successfully fended off any and all suitors, as Webb remains in Denver and in charge of a quarterback room that, at this moment in time, only has one player under contract.

That would be Nix. Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson are both about to hit unrestricted free agency, and whether the Broncos seek to bring one of them back or sign someone else to backup Nix, Webb will have a full room to coach by the time OTAs roll around.

The Broncos' coaching staff was pillaged on the heels of a successful season. Denver's pass game coordinator John Morton left for the big coordinator job in Detroit, while tight ends coach Declan Doyle left to become Chicago's offensive coordinator.

With the exception of Darren Rizzi at special teams coordinator, Payton has yet to fill any of the coaching vacancies created this offseason. This is all to say that Webb could have the opportunity to move into a pass game coordinator role at some point, possibly, if Payton were of a mind to offer it.

More likely, however, would be Webb staying right where he's at. After all, we've seen multiple quarterbacks coaches go from that job title to being hired as head coaches around the league in recent years, and when you're privileged to coach one of the NFL's best young signal-callers, that's a gift horse whose mouth you definitely don't want to examine.

The Payton shine transmitted to several rising Broncos coaches this year who garnered some upward mobility elsewhere around the league. For now, Webb is also on that list of Payton coaching beneficiaries, but it looks like he'll be sticking around Denver for now.

But The Athletic's inclusion of Webb on its list shows that his stock is most certainly on the rise around the NFL.

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