Should Broncos fans be concerned about Sean Payton's comments on the QB room?

With Russell Wilson now in Pittsburgh, Denver has a much different QB room, consisting of Jarrett Stidham, Zach Wilson and Bo Nix. So far, head coach Sean Payton’s praise of his three quarterbacks has been pretty muted. It has also been a bit bizarre.

“It's kind of the orphan group,” he said “They're all orphaned dogs. They've come from somewhere, but they're doing good. It's a good room.”

It can be very easy for an NFL head coach to get complacent when he has a top quarterback. No slight against Andy Reid, but it’s probably pretty easy to draw up plays when you know Patrick Mahomes is going to run them.

When an HC loses his reliable signal-caller, it can quickly turn a great franchise into a mediocre one. It can also lead to the end of a career, as the breakup of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots recently proved.

Another example is Payton. For all but one of the years that he helmed the New Orleans Saints, his quarterback was Drew Brees, one of the greatest to ever play the game. The year after Brees retired, four QBs suited up for the Saints, and the team had its worst season in a long time. Perhaps not surprisingly, that was Payton’s final year in New Orleans.

When Payton later emerged in Denver and the team obtained Russell Wilson, many thought the stars aligned again. Super Bowl-winning coach, meet Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Of course, unless they watched it on TV, neither of them got a whiff of the big game.

Referring to Russell Wilson as an orphan might be appropriate, as clearly the Jets didn’t want him anymore. However, he wasn’t waived or a free agent — the Broncos traded for him. The label makes less sense with the other two. First of all, Stidham hasn’t “come from somewhere” – he was on the Broncos last year. He mostly backed up Russell Wilson, but he started two games and actually played pretty well.

Calling a player coming out of college an orphan is also strange. This is particularly true where Nix was drafted. While other QBs went before him, Denver chose him with its first pick at No. 12, which was high for a team that had many pressing needs.

So, which of these “dogs” is going to be the starter this season? Payton doesn’t know yet, or perhaps he’s just keeping things close to the vest in the early going. Whoever it is, the franchise and fans alike are surely hoping that they don’t make a big mess out on the field.