Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon expects Broncos' Russell Wilson to bounce back under Sean Payton

Mar. 23—At the Super Bowl last month in Arizona, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon ran into first-year Broncos coach Sean Payton. And, yes, the subject of Russell Wilson came up.

"He didn't feel like he was going to have any problems getting Russell back on track," Moon said in a phone interview with The Denver Gazette.

Moon, who starred in the NFL from 1984-2000 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, knows plenty about Wilson. He was a longtime radio analyst for the Seattle Seahawks, including when Wilson played his first seven seasons for them from 2012-18. Moon then continued to live in Seattle, and he followed Wilson closely for his final three Seahawks seasons and during his disastrous first year in Denver.

Now, Moon believes Payton will be able to get the 34-year-old quarterback to again play at a high level.

"He definitely didn't play up to his standards last year and it kind of surprised me that he played as poorly as he did because I watched him play his whole career here in Seattle and I watched him practice and I got to know him very well," Moon said. "And he was just a different player (last season). ... But I think Sean will get Russell getting back to what he does best."

Moon pointed to former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett as letting Wilson have too much of a say last season in what he wanted to do. Hackett was fired with two games remaining in his first season, and the Broncos finished 5-12.

"I just thought (Wilson) was trying to do things that he wasn't really capable of doing," Moon said. "Not so much that he couldn't do them but he was trying to do too much. He was trying to be too much of a pocket passer and he got away from the things that made him special, getting on the edges and running waggles and bootlegs and throwing the ball outside the pocket. And also play action, I think they got away from that a little bit too much and did a little bit too much drop back."

After making the Pro Bowl in nine of his 10 seasons with Seattle, Wilson had by far a career-low passer rating of 84.4. He threw a career-low 16 touchdown passes and had 11 interceptions.

"I was stunned," Moon said of how poorly Wilson played last season. "I watched this guy practice twice a week almost for the first seven years of his career. I kind of knew what his strengths and weaknesses were."

Wilson was acquired last March from Seattle along with a fourth-round pick in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant. Last September, he signed a five-year, $245 million contract extension, taking him through the 2028 season.

"He wanted to become more of a Drew Brees, somebody he really patterned his game after and everything," Moon said about why he believes Wilson altered his game last season. "So I think he wanted to become more like a pocket passer like Drew was, and I don't think that's the strength of his game."

Now, Wilson will be coached by Payton, who had Brees as his quarterback in New Orleans for 14 seasons, the last one in 2020. But Moon expects Payton to look to get Wilson back to what he did in Seattle. Moon said the word is Wilson has dropped some weight to help his mobility, and he expects Denver's offense to look a lot different in 2023.

"I think with Sean coming in there, they're going to run the ball a little bit more and (Wilson) always had success when he had a really good running game when he was here in Seattle," Moon said. "It was always predicated on run-first and then the first play-action pass had a lot more effectiveness because of the threat of the run. ... And the additions they made this offseason with the offensive line will help."

The Broncos last week began free agency by signing left guard Ben Powers to a four-year, $52 million deal and right tackle Mike McGlincey to a five-year, $87.5 million contract. Moon said Powers was an important signee for the interior of the line to help protect the 5-foot-11 Wilson.

"You want to make sure the center of the pocket is really protected well for a shorter quarterback," Moon said. "You don't want pressure up in his face, so you want to make sure you have really good guards and that is something (Payton) did in New Orleans for (the 6-foot) Drew Brees. The interior of the offensive line was always a strong part because Drew wasn't that tall, and he had vision to see down the field."

Put it all together, and Moon expects Wilson to have a much better season under Payton.

"I think he wants to be coached," Moon said. "I think he wants to be coached hard. I don't think he's a prima donna or anything like that where he thinks he knows it all. I think he has tremendous respect for Sean. I'm sure he went to bat to get Sean as the next coach there, and they'll work together. And when I talked to Sean at the Super Bowl, he said he wasn't worried, and he doesn't think it's going to be any problem getting it turned around."