Denver Broncos have an enviable quarterback situation
The Denver Broncos have not lost a meaningful football game since December 20th in a heart-breaking loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Since that game, the Broncos have not lost, and they have had four different quarterbacks taking the snaps.
Brock Osweiler started and helped the team win against the Cincinnati Bengals in a week 16 thriller. Osweiler started but didn’t finish a week 17 win against San Diego, which was finished by future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.
The playoffs started and finished with Manning, and the 2016 regular season began with Trevor Siemian. The Broncos’ most recent victory — a 27-7 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — was finished by rookie first round pick Paxton Lynch.
A future Hall of Famer, a former heir apparent, the underdog, and the chosen one have given the Broncos something that most NFL teams do not have: an enviable quarterback situation.
Since John Elway came aboard in 2011, the Broncos have gotten incredible production from the quarterback position. It gets no better than what fans were treated to in 2013 with Manning’s remarkable 55-touchdown MVP campaign, and now the future in the post-Manning era for Denver looks bright.
That’s all thanks to the talent the Broncos have in the front office, and their ability to identify players that fit the system Gary Kubiak has in place.
It might not always be pretty, but the Broncos couldn’t have asked for more out of two players with a combined one NFL snap going into this season in the first month.
Among QBs with at least 100 pass attempts this season, Trevor Siemian ranks 6th in the NFL in completion percentage. In that same category (min. 100 pass attempts), he ranks sixth in quarterback rating (99.6). Siemian also ranks 5th in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.16) with six touchdown passes compared to just three interceptions.
Siemian became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 300 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions in his first road start. That’s an incredible statistic.
When Siemian went down after seven pass attempts in the Broncos’ victory over Tampa Bay, rookie first rounder Paxton Lynch came into the game and started slinging the ball all over the field, beating the Bucs’ zone coverage looks and showing off his rocket arm.
He put some nice touch on his first NFL touchdown pass, an easy throw to a wide open Emmanuel Sanders off of play-action.
As much as the Broncos gave up to get Lynch, there’s no denying Siemian has played well enough that the starting job will be his whenever he comes back from his shoulder sprain, but the Broncos also have peace of mind knowing they’re going to be able to win games with Paxton Lynch as well.
Oh, and by the way — the Broncos have Austin Davis as the third stringer who has started some games in this league and showed flashes of promise as well.
It’s a situation that, league-wide, teams just don’t have. The quarterback position is at such a premium in today’s NFL, we’ve seen the Minnesota Vikings make a desperation move to get Sam Bradford from the Eagles at his outrageous salary. As a side note, Bradford has played very well for Minnesota, and they are winning games, so no one is going to complain about that.
The New England Patriots have had issues, dealing with a suspended star in Tom Brady and two injured backups in Jimmy Garoppolo (who looked really solid) and Jacoby Brissett (who didn’t look as great…).
The Arizona Cardinals proved that they’re a Carson Palmer injury away from complete irrelevance. The Seattle Seahawks have had to use undrafted rookie Trevone Boykin.
The list goes on and on.
While most teams seem to have ‘a plan’ at the QB position, you’d be hard pressed to find a team that’s getting better bang for their buck than the Denver Broncos, who are paying Trevor Siemian as much this season as 20 other NFL quarterbacks make in a single game.
There are 80 quarterbacks in the NFL getting paid more money than Siemian, including both of the guys backing him up.
The Denver Broncos have a combined quarterback cap hit of $3,511,158, which is less than Chad Henne is getting paid in Jacksonville…by $1.2 million.
The flexibility the Broncos have at this position financially for the foreseeable future is absolutely phenomenal. It has allowed them to retain key pieces all over the roster and will continue to do so down the road.
Not only are the Broncos being financially responsible, they are getting top 10 production out of Siemian. That’s both a testament to the front office and their ability to find a great fit for the Gary Kubiak offense, but what Kubiak, Gregg Knapp, and Rick Dennison have done over the last two seasons at the QB position is staggering.
It seems like no matter who is taking the snaps, this team is winning football games. There’s nothing more you can ask for.
