Sean Payton has been one of the league’s most brilliant offensive minds throughout his career, and he’s proving it once against with the Denver Broncos.
In 2022, the Broncos had the worst-scoring offense in the league and finished with a losing record for the sixth consecutive season. In just his second season, Payton led the 10th-best scoring offense and snapped an eight-year playoff drought with the franchise’s first winning season since Super Bowl 50. He did all of that with a rookie quarterback and while being hamstrung by Russell Wilson’s unprecedented dead cap charge.
Payton is gearing up for his third season in the Mile High City, but he is still slowly building out his offensive system. While the Broncos have prioritized defensive additions throughout free agency, Payton may have gotten a valuable chess piece that his offense has been missing.
Sean Payton may have found his new “joker”
The Broncos signed former Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram to a two-year, $23 million contract with $16.5 million guaranteed. The signing may seem inconsequential, but it fills a significant role in Payton’s offense. In a social media post on Thursday, Engram hinted that he may be playing the “joker” position, which is one of the most distinctive aspects of Payton’s offense.
Payton has blurred traditional offensive roles by utilizing versatile running backs and tight ends who can excel in both the running and passing attack. In particular, the joker position is typically filled by a skill position player who can stress the defense with a multifaceted skillset.
In the past, Payton’s jokers have shown the ability to pass the ball, run a wide array of routes and evade defenders in the run game. Some of the more notable jokers in Payton’s offenses have included Marshall Faulk, Darren Sproles, Reggie Bush, Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill.
“The joker player for us is not a receiver,’’ Payton said last year. “It’s either a running back or a tight end with exceptional ball skills and then you can work matchups. We’ve had that at the running back spot, Reggie Bush was the joker, Darren Sproles and Alvin Kamara. Those were all unique players, not just in the running game, but they had passing game skill sets that allowed you to do multiple things.’”
Despite only playing nine games last season, Engram still finished with 47 receptions — more than any Broncos tight end has recorded in a single season since 2021. The two-time Pro Bowler had his best season in 2023, when he logged 963 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 114 receptions. He could top those numbers in Denver if quarterback Bo Nix continues to improve in his sophomore campaign.