RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As Davis Webb walked into a recent staff meeting, the first-year Denver Broncos offensive coordinator did a double take.
Webb saw in the corner of the meeting room a figure standing about 6-foot-4, not unlike his own 6-foot-5 stature. He saw a figure with long hair the length of his own and reading glasses perched low on the nose, a trademark move for Webb as he pores through game plans.
Webb was not looking in a mirror.
He was instead encountering a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself, courtesy of Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
"You got to have some change-of-pace stuff," Payton told Yahoo Sports as he shared the story recently standing near the Broncos' fieldhouse entrance. "It was funny. You got to do that stuff at camp."
Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb, center, talks with his quarterbacks during practice on Aug. 7, 2026, at Broncos Park. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) Timothy Hurst via Getty Images
As always, there was a message.
After a recent offensive installation by Webb, Payton believed his 31-year-old newly minted play-caller was trying to install the offense at a pace and volume beyond what best served his players.
Payton thought back to his prior three seasons with Webb on staff as Payton called plays. The 62-year-old coach had valued the perspective of Webb, who spent six seasons as a quarterback on NFL rosters, to assess honestly whether Payton was most effectively translating his PhD.-level knowledge to young players, including 2024 first-round draft pick Bo Nix.
"It's funny because back when we had those meetings at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., I would put my glasses down, halfway down my nose and [Payton would] be like, 'Davis, is this too much?' And I'd be like, 'Yes, this is too much. And we have too much of a game plan,'" Webb told Yahoo Sports. "Then we'd go through it again, take a couple things out, move it around so it's a little more digestible. That's been a tradition for the last three years.
"So when he came out here to practice, he noticed a brand new install and they felt like there was a lot of shifts and motions and plays, and plays maybe that were new ideas from our staff from this offseason we wanted to try out against [defensive coordinator] Vance [Joseph]. And so he gets the cardboard cutout of me. He puts the glasses halfway down it.
"And it's like, 'I want this to be the reminder for that quarterback coach telling me I had too much.'"
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Cardboard Webb continues to tell sentient Webb: Install and call what best serves your players, at the rate that best serves your players.
When the Broncos open their season on Monday Night Football at the Kansas City Chiefs, that will be Webb's goal.
The Broncos' offense will still have plenty of Payton's ethos in the Super Bowl-winning coach's fourth year at Denver's helm. But expect it also to reflect the flavor of Webb, an up-and-coming coach who drew heavy interest for coordinator and head-coaching roles this cycle.
With Nix back in the mix after a January ankle fracture and speedy receiver Jaylen Waddle integrating after a spring acquisition, Webb's complement of weapons should be available.
He continues to scheme, install and call with his cardboard doppelgänger in his mind. Payton made sure of that.
"Everything he says [that's] funny, there's some truth in it," Webb said. "That's one thing I know about Mr. Payton."
Payton on Webb: 'I don't want to discourage that creativity'
As the Broncos' first-team offense took the field against the Green Bay Packers during Friday's preseason game, Nix huddled his teammates before they dispersed across the line of scrimmage.
Receiver Pat Bryant motioned from left to right before the snap. Nix faked a throw then handed off to running back RJ Harvey, who picked up 5 yards.
On second-and-5 the next play, Waddle motioned left to right. This time Nix fled the pocket and ran to his right, throwing while airborne to receiver Courtland Sutton, who was marked out of bounds initially and after a challenge. No matter: On third-and-5, Nix signaled with his left hand then hit Waddle deep downfield. The veteran receiver whom Denver deemed worth its 2026 first-round pick and later-round swaps tacked on 12 yards after the catch for a total gain of 35 yards on the play.
Welcome to Denver, @D1__JW ‼️ 📺: 9NEWS pic.twitter.com/qvxiByZBAl
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 22, 2026
By the sixth play of the drive, the Broncos had scored a touchdown.
Not unlike Webb's first preseason game as coordinator, when the Broncos (led by second-string quarterback Jarrett Stidham) scored on the sixth play of their opening drive.
"Just very smooth and get in and out of the huddle and put us in a good situation," Nix told reporters after the game. "You want to finish every drive with a touchdown and so to do that for the first one to start the game, that was good."
Our first TD at @EmpowerField this preseason 🙌 📺: 9NEWS pic.twitter.com/DGInjQAWXd
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 22, 2026
While the Packers ultimately beat the Broncos 33-13, the two drives Webb and Nix teamed up on shed a light on what this offense could look like this year.
As a starting point, the Broncos will lean on what worked well last year. Their pass-heavy attack produced the 10th-most total yards and 14th-most points in the NFL, as Nix attempted a league-high 612 passes. In hopes of strengthening Denver's defensive diagnosis and passing efficiency, expect more shifts and motions, different run-pass option concepts and varied use of tempo at the line of scrimmage.
The motions on Denver's first two plays Friday hint: This may no longer be the Br...
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