Denver Broncos Legend Pinpoints Where Jarrett Stidham Was Much Better Than Russell Wilson

The Denver Broncos showed modest improvements offensively under Jarrett Stidham.

While neither the box score nor the final tally seemed to confirm that Jarrett Stidham was any better than Russell Wilson as the Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback, the eye test revealed some glaring differences between the two. Stidham started in place of Wilson in Sunday’s 16-9 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Stidham kept the Broncos more on schedule. And while the Broncos’ offense still suffered from inconsistencies, including dropped passes, lackluster run blocking, and some cringe-level pass protection at times, Stidham kept a much better rhythm. 

For those Broncos fans still upset about Wilson’s demotion, one legendary former player had a message earlier this week. 104.3 The FAN’s Mark Schlereth put Stidham’s poise running the Broncos’ offense in perspective on his Denver morning show, Schlereth and Evans. 

“I will guarantee you one thing; if Russ would have played in that game, he’d have taken seven sacks… I think he took one sack in that game. I thought Stidham operationally was much better, and then pocket awareness. And here’s the crazy thing. We’re sitting here pissing and moaning and we’ve got a fanbase of Chicken Littles out there that are all so, ‘Oh my gosh. It was so much better’ (emphasis added). The sarcasm. The dude’s started what, three games versus 12 years of starting? And he was better operationally? He was better pocket awareness-wise? Plus, Jerry Jeudy dropped a couple in the first quarter. You had [Adam] Trautman drop one. I think [Brandon] Johnson dropped one as well. Listen, man, [he] put the ball where it was supposed to go and avoided sacks. That in and of itself right there—just that aspect—the operational aspect, was much better under Stidham than it has been under Russ. Sorry.” 

Ouch. Indeed, while Stidham failed to light up the box score, the lack of sacks was conspicuous in comparison to the cavalcade of QB takedowns the Broncos had under Wilson. 

It’s also true that Stidham’s lack of reps with the likes of Jeudy, Johnson, and Trautman seemed to hold the Broncos back, but then again, it was clear that Lil’Jordan Humphrey came to play vs. the Chargers. That makes some sense, though, as Humphrey spent time on the practice squad this year, and Stidham has thrown to him a lot. 

It is a bit uncanny that in the Broncos’ Week 14 road win over the Chargers, Wilson had 224 yards passing with a pair of touchdowns and a pick, while Stidham also finished with 224 yards in Week 17. Stidham also had one touchdown pass, finishing with a QB rating of 93.8 and zero interceptions. 

Wilson did well throughout the year to avoid throwing interceptions, but all those pressures, many of which he brought on himself by bailing out of the pocket the moment he hit the back foot of his drop, led to a lot of QB hits, which led to a whopping 10 fumbles and 45 sacks. Stidham mostly worked from the pocket, within structure, which eliminated the fumble issues that plagued the Broncos this year. 

It was also interesting to see Stidham’s underrated athleticism on the few occasions when he did have to break the pocket. That’s definitely an aspect of his game I slept on when he first arrived in Denver last spring on a two-year, $10 million deal. 

And yes, that was Stidham’s third career start. But he broke the ice by notching the first win of his NFL career. 

There were areas that were obviously much more proficient with Stidham at the controls. And while that certainly kept Sean Payton’s heart rate down on gameday, let’s not pretend that Stidham was leaps and bounds better than Wilson. 

Week 17’s point total was Denver’s lowest since Week 6. The Broncos didn’t take full advantage of their red-zone opportunities and converted just 8-of-17 third-down tries (47%). 

But Schlereth is right about how the complexion of Stidham’s performance changes within the context of it being just his third career start, compared to Wilson having 188 regular-season starts under his belt. If you’re Payton and you were hoping for a “spark,” perhaps you were a little disappointed. 

However, if those “operational” issues Schlereth spoke to were eating at Payton as intensely as we’ve heard, then Stidham’s day was probably quite encouraging for the Broncos’ head coach. Again, though, we’re really splitting hairs here when the Broncos totaled just 322 yards from scrimmage and 16 points at home against a five-win opponent with a bad defense. 

Considering that Stidham got just one week’s worth of first-team reps, the Broncos’ offensive improvements aren’t nothing. It’ll be interesting to see if the young QB can build on it in the season finale.