It took a serious effort to change the Broncos‘ fate. After nine years, the AFC West franchise finally returned to the playoffs last season. The heroes of their campaign—quarterback Bo Nix and head coach Sean Payton—were over the moon. But as we stand just seven days away from the draft, things have shifted. While Payton praised his quarterback after the wild-card win against the Bills, he’s not focused on drafting a QB this time around. Instead, the Broncos are looking to add solid, impact players to the locker room.

While talking about the choices of their quarterback on April 18, the Broncos’ head coach told the media, “We love Bo but we’re not talking about Bo in these meeting a lot. I mean, I just say that you know I think it’s really more of how do they add to what we do offensively.” That’s right. He has to do things for the greater good of the franchise.

The Broncos need a running back for Bo Nix. Last year, their RBs had 365 carries in 1,473 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns. In the receiving game, the running backs recorded 96 receptions for 528 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. The 5.5 yards per catch was the lowest in the league.

However, it isn’t like that they are ignoring Bo Nix. In fact, they are clear that they are making changes with QB in mind. The coach added, “When we talk about like painting picture for Bo, it’s like painting the picture for quarterback.” That’s alright! Bo Nix doesn’t have any concerns about it. He believes in the head coach.

Sean Payton will also not ignore the QB needs (or the team requirements) in any scenario. He said after the playoff loss, “I think we’ve found that player (Bo Nix) that can lead us and be what we need relative to having the success that we’re used to having.” So, the front office knows the gameplay modes. They know that the draft is very important to bring more talent that could play well with the young leader.

Sean Payton & co. are ready for draft week calls

While talking to the media, the head coach wasn’t alone. Broncos GM George Paton also sat with him. The manager accepted that the draft week gets very busy for the NFL executives. Sean Payton has seen many drafts over his 4-decades football career.

While accepting the draft week hurry among the team to jump up, Paton said, “We’ve made calls, you know, this week you make a lot of calls, and then next week the more serious calls — you know, ‘Hey, if this player’s here, we want to move up,’ or what have you. So, you know, I’ve talked to most every GM in the NFL, kind of set the table, set the plan. I would say it gets more serious next week. And then really, draft day — sometimes you maybe haven’t heard from a team, and someone just really wants to come up and they’re aggressive.” That’s some serious planning.

The Broncos are ready for the draft. They chose 20th in the first round. But they also have 3 picks in the 6th round (191st, 197th, and 208th). So, they would like to jump up. Moreover, they would like to jump up in the first round. Or get some extra draft capital by trading back. The Green Bay is set to become the preferred destination of the NFL world in a week.