Broncos QB Situation Better than Most, Rookie Paxton Lynch Confident he will Compete
When Peyton Manning retired and Brock Osweiler signed with the Houston Texans, things weren’t looking good for the Super Bowl 50 Champion Denver Broncos offense. The team had revolved around Manning for the past four seasons, and Osweiler was always supposed to be the next man up.
John Elway and the Broncos ended up getting stuck with third-string quarterback Trevor Siemian, Mark Sanchez, and Memphis rookie Paxton Lynch, but that doesn’t mean they’re in a bad position. In fact, they’re right where they want to be, even after 5-time NFL MVP.
“I think that’s true,” said cornerback Chris Harris Jr on the QB situation and Elway’s plan. “Elway, Coach [Gary] Kubiak, and the guys in the locker room, we’ve seen those guys work, we see our defense, we see our team. We think we can win. What other people say, that’s all stuff we don’t really listen to.”
While the three quarterbacks on the roster may not be a shining example of the talent in the NFL right now, the Broncos are confident that the rest of the team will band around the starter and lead the team to victory.
Right now, Siemian and Sanchez are “neck-and-neck” to start Week One for the 2016 season; however, Lynch doesn’t believe people should count him out just yet.
“I definitely think I have the opportunity to better myself and put myself up in that position to play right away or sooner than I had thought,” said Lynch of being in third place out of three. “I knew those guys were going to be ahead of me just because of experience—Trevor has experience in the offense, and Mark has experience in the league, and me being a rookie, and this is the first time I’ve seen a playbook like that.”
Although the signs right now point to Siemian taking the field with the offense come Week One, I believe Elway and Kubiak would be much better off starting the rookie Lynch. Spending a first round draft pick on a quarterback usually signifies the team will be looking to that player long term.
Besides, he can’t be any worse than Sanchez.