When the Denver Broncos watched Peyton Manning retire after winning the Super Bowl and let Brock Osweiler walk to the Houston Texans, the defending champions did so knowing that they would have to completely press the reset button on the quarterback position.
John Elway’s best response to the quarterbacking exodus was drafting Paxton Lynch with their first round pick, but the Broncos did little else in the market this spring. Failing to land a capable veteran name in free agency and instead settling on perpetual Plan B Mark Sanchez as their expected starter while Lynch was slotted to spend a year on the bench holding a clipboard.
That feeling has changed so far in the preseason as while Sanchez and fellow veteran Trevor Siemian have struggled the performances from Lynch have been very encouraging thus far. Lynch having a strong showing with the third team this week, starting up the conversation on if the first rounder should be a Week 1 starter as a rookie considering the team’s relatively poor options ahead of him on the depth chart.
While Sanchez and Siemian both flopped on Saturday night against the 49ers with four combined turnovers in their battle for the starting job, Lynch came in and produced two touchdown passes. Escaping pressure and performing well despite the Broncos offensive line giving him little protection as the rookie was sacked three times.
It wasn’t all good for Lynch as he threw an interception on the final drive of the game, but the performance was good enough for head coach Gary Kubiak to insert him into the talk when it comes to the complicated position battle at quarterback in Denver.
“I’m going to play the guy that I think is best for our team. We have three guys out there battling,” Kubiak said during his postgame press conference on Saturday night after the loss to the 49ers while adding that Lynch made some mistakes mixed in with his impressive plays. “Obviously [Lynch] is a young kid. He did some really good stuff tonight. He made some mistakes, too. “I think I’ve continued to tell you guys that he is behind the others from a knowledge standpoint as far as running the group. Obviously we need to keep coming, keep bringing him along.
“We’re going to keep working here, find the guy that we think is best for our football team and go from there.”
Kubiak also said that Lynch has always been in the mix, but confirmed that he still believes that the rookie is behind Sanchez and Siemian in terms of knowledge. Making it clear that Lynch is in the hunt even if the head coach still isn’t confident in his rookie when it comes to being able to succeed as a Week 1 starter coming out of Memphis.
“He’s always been in the mix,” Kubiak said. “I just told you guys that he’s behind the other two from a knowledge standpoint, but we’ve been out there competing every day. Everybody is in competition to play.”
While Kubiak is not confident in Lynch’s experience, the Broncos coach has to start realizing that his options ahead of him lack the talent to get the job done. Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian may have more NFL experience, but they both have displayed a body of work that won’t win a team a Super Bowl over the course of their careers. Both players offering a grim reminder of their lack of upside against the 49ers as Sanchez and Siemian were equally horrendous on the night.
With both Sanchez and Siemian earning themselves a reduction of snaps with their woeful performances during Preseason Week 2, Kubiak will be feeling the pressure to finally give Lynch a look with the first-team offense when the Broncos play the Los Angeles Rams. Especially considering that Lynch earned himself a run with the starters by drastically outplaying the pair of veteran passers while playing with the Broncos bench squad.
Left with only two preseason games to decide if Lynch is ready to get NFL experience, Kubiak is now under the gun as if Sanchez and Siemian continue to struggle it is going to be hard to justify playing a below average veteran over a first round rookie. As right now it is looking like an awfully hard sell to hide Lynch from getting NFL experience right away to try to win a Super Bowl with a quarterback who has proven time and time again that he is not a top-level passer.
Lynch should get his chance to prove himself this week against the Rams and if the rookie does well enough there will be the expectation that the Broncos give him a fair chance to win the job. A job that looks up for grabs after two preseason outings as with Sanchez and Siemian struggling there is a case to be made that Lynch is the Broncos best option right now despite his lack of experience. Hiding a first round pick from winning a job that he potentially could win would be a major mistake by Elway and Kubiak as if Lynch has the most talent he should be the starter right away in Denver.
