PAUL GEORGE STATS ON SEASON UPGRADE

Strong play in the offensive trenches was a hallmark of the head coach's New Orleans teams, but it will be tough with the current crop of talent in the Mile High. One of the main ways Payton is hoping to accomplish this is by improving the offensive line.

He's now tasked with installing a system that will play to Wilson's strengths and minimize his weaknesses after a season in which the quarterback took a league-worst 55 sacks. During the lone campaign that Payton coached following the future Hall of Famer's retirement, the Saints went 9-8 and missed the playoffs following four consecutive trips.

PAUL GEORGE STATS ON SEASON UPGRADE

While it would be difficult for Payton not to be an upgrade over Nathaniel Hackett, he cost the Broncos more draft capital and has yet to prove he can truly succeed in the league without Drew Brees. The most notable was coaxing Sean Payton out of the broadcast booth, returning the former New Orleans Saints coach to the sidelines after a one-year hiatus. With Wilson's contract containing tremendous amounts of dead money that makes it basically impossible to move on from him until at least 2024, the Denver brass was forced to make other personnel adjustments around the aging signal-caller. To make matters worse, they were bereft of high draft picks after sending them over to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire the quarterback. Their blockbuster trade to bring in Russell Wilson failed in epic fashion, resulting in the team's worst regular season winning percentage since 2010.

Paul george stats on season