Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton confirmed Thursday that he will take over offensive play-calling duties from first-year coordinator Davis Webb.
"We'll make a change offensively," Payton told reporters. "I'll call the plays.
"I've done this long enough where I know when I have a future head coach, and (Webb)'s gonna be one. All the things that it's hard to find will happen. In fact, the same thing to some degree, a little bit different, happened to myself earlier in my career."
NFL Network and ESPN reported earlier Thursday that Payton would be more "heavily involved" in play-calling in Week 5 against Los Angeles. The coach's announcement later Thursday was more definitive.
Payton said he made the decision on Monday, and added that Webb will still be involved in game-planning and be with the coach on the sideline during games.
Webb was elevated to OC this offseason after serving the last three seasons as quarterbacks coach, adding offensive pass game coordinator to his title in 2025.
The hope is that Payton calling plays will unlock what Bo Nix does best -- make plays, often out of structure -- after four weeks of low-ceiling offensive showings.
"I think collectively when you're playing well on offense, you're doing a lot of little things well, and then that job for him becomes somewhat easier," Payton said earlier this week, via The Denver Post. "So that's really the focus this week is the little things, detailing the little things and we'll see that in the end product."
Nix's statistics aren't horrid by any means: He's completed 60 percent of his passes for 819 yards and a 5-3 TD-INT ratio through four games, good for a passer rating of 80.4. But those numbers paint a picture of an average quarterback and are on track to finish as career-lows for Nix. Denver didn't build this offense around Nix for him to simply be average.
"For us, obviously it's all about winning. It's all about putting our team in the best situation possible," Nix said. "So for me, there are definitely several things that I want to change, and I want to get better at. That's going to happen. It's going to come over time."
If Broncos fans have a gripe with Nix, it's likely that he's playing too safely. Nix became a checkdown master in Week 4, posting an air yards per attempt mark of 4.6. Of his 42 passing attempts, 29 targeted pass-catchers behind the line of scrimmage or short of 10 yards downfield.
He's also taking off for scrambles less often, minimizing a running threat that has propelled him to success early in his NFL career.
"I think because I'm seeing the field better and I know where my outlets are and I'm getting to them faster," Nix said when asked why he's scrambling less. "I think that's just a product of being in the system for three years and understanding. I'll ask you all, do you all want me with the ball or RJ (Harvey) with the ball?"
Well, that's not fair to Harvey. The running back put in yeoman's work Sunday, catching a career-high 10 passes for 68 yards while handling seven carries for 25 yards.
Denver having a running back lead the team in targets by a wide margin in its 24-14 loss to the 49ers highlights one of the problems with its offense. It's not that Nix needs to take unnecessary risks, but the Broncos feature too much talent for Nix to constantly take checkdowns.
Perhaps that's what Payton has seen in his four weeks spent as a head coach without play-calling power: It's time to take this offense off the leash.
We'll see how Payton taking control of play-calling affects Nix's performance against the Chargers on Sunday. Broncos fans sure will hope it produces more of the magic from last season.
"We're 2-2," Payton said Thursday, "but we feel like there's more there."
