Let’s talk about Vance Joseph

Good morning, Broncos Country!

New head coach Sean Payton addressed the proverbial elephant in the room last week at the Combine when he told the media just why he hired Vance Joseph to be his defensive coordinator.

“Rex [Ryan], Matt , Sean Desai—all those guys—were outstanding.” Payton said. “But in the end, there were a few things that I felt that Vance was going to bring—and not necessarily because he had experience in Denver—but really, more what he was able to do, believe it or not, in Arizona. That was a tough job for a number of years. So we’re excited to have him on our defensive staff.”

To the discerning Broncos fan, that’s not much of a recommendation. Even Broncos’ PR seemed to anticipate the reaction and didn’t roll out the red carpet for the announcement - no tweet, no single article.

Joseph was run out of town, and now a bunch of people relatively unfamiliar with that situation, have brought him back.

With an 11-21 record as Denver’s head coach 2017-2018, Joseph led the Broncos to their first losing season in decades. His defenses were good - at times even really good - but after watching that same core defense get better with each new regime following Joseph’s exit, it’s a little hard to get too excited for his “defensive prowess” coming back.

When Joseph joined the Cardinals, he inherited an Arizona defense that gave up 26.6 points per game and won just three times in 2018.

Joseph was able to turn that D around somewhat, earning the Cardinals a top-12 scoring defense designation in 2020 (22.9 points allowed per game), and 2021 (21.5 points allowed per game).

But his defenses have also given up a lot of points - and that doesn’t bode well in an offense-heavy division with some of the best QBs in the league (oh hello Patrick Super Bowl MVP Mahomes).

In fact, Joseph’s Cardinals allowed almost 26 points per game on average against the Chiefs - a team and QB that has stymied Joseph’s defenses. And in two playoff games with the Cardinals, his defenses allowed 34 points in one and 26 in the other.

But the take on the Joseph hiring is a lot more positive the farther away from Denver you get.

George Paton wasn’t in the building when Joseph was hired so his perspective lacks the bias of Broncos Country.

“I’ve admired Vance from afar. I’ve never known him, heard a lot of really good things. We talked to a lot of different coaches, offensive coaches that have gone against Vance, and he’s hard. He’s hard to scheme against; he’s hard to go against,” Paton said during the NFL Combine this past weekend.

Paton also noted what was painfully obvious when Joseph first took the reins in 2017 - he hasn’t always been in the perfect situations. But his defenses have always played hard.

“They’re hard to scheme against - they get after the quarterback, they’re good in the pass game, they turn the ball over,” Paton added. “I think he’s going to be great.”

Former Broncos defenders Shelby Harris and Chris Harris Jr., who both played under Joseph, also agree he’s a good choice for Payton.

Joseph runs an aggressive 3-4 defense, which pairs well with the current defensive roster and also appeals to Payton as he likes attacking defenses. Joseph likes to blitz and his Cardinals did it more than one-third of the total snaps, third-most in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.

“I always liked him,” CHJ said in a tweet. “Surtain will love him and play great under him. He’ll be great for what they need and he’ll give DBs a chance to make plays.”

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