Broncos bucked? Quarterback questions loom over champs
You’ve seen those old westerns films. The sheriff comes to town and saves the day before riding off into the sunset.
The Denver Broncos had that exact scenario play out in 2015.
OK, maybe if you add in the sheriff not being able to fire his pistol anymore while struggling with terrible feet issues. Then watching everybody else fight the battles until the very end where they declare victory but it was all in the name of the sheriff which they so dearly loved.
We never know what happens AFTER the movie is over.
Do the townspeople finally have peace and tranquility or do the roughnecks from the surrounding area come to pillage the town now with the old sheriff riding into the sunset?
Our story picks up in Denver where Peyton Manning has left town, leaving general manager John Elway to pick the new sheriff. After a surprise defector in Brock Osweiler and much consideration, Elway chose Trevor Siemian.
Elway could have gone with the presumptive pick heading into training camp. Everybody assumed it would be the veteran, Mark Sanchez, getting a chance to prove he was worth that first-round pick many moons ago. Instead, after a horrid preseason, Elway and head coach Gary Kubiak are placing their faith in Siemian, a second-year man out of Northwestern.
Siemian will likely give way to rookie Paxton Lynch soon, but he will be under center with the bright lights in Week 1. Denver will be relying on the rest of its team to carry the day, including a solid core group of young receivers led by Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas. Then there is that devastating defense led by Von Miller and the No Fly Zone.
But in this day and age with great quarterbacks ruling the league, can the Broncos pull off the trick of being a contender two years running without a signal-caller?
Even if Denver’s production isn’t great this season under center, it can’t be any worse than a year ago.
Manning and Osweiler combined to give the Broncos a 16th-ranked offense along with near-bottom rankings in red zone percentage, goal-to-go situations and total passing yards. Watching Denver’s offense a season ago was tough, but fans and pundits actually have reasoning as to why things could be considered and uphill struggle in 2016.
Still, Osweiler’s surprise departure to the Houston Texans leaves Denver with a gaping hole. Siemian’s kneel-down last year against the Pittsburgh Steelers is the only time he’s taken an NFL snap.
But what if it doesn’t work out? Despite Siemian’s decent preseason, plays against a hodgepodge of defenders and vanilla schemes doesn’t translate over to the regular season. Furthermore, what happens if Siemian gets hurt. Is Lynch ready to step into the fray?
The rookie that the Broncos traded up to get would be pressed into duty despite most believing he needs a year or two to learn Kubiak’s system. Lynch never took snaps from under center during his college career at Memphis, and has alternated between great throws and looking like a rusty hinge in the preseason.
Ultimately, this whole situation was set up by Sanchez being a giant flop. All he had to do was be competent and avoid disasters. Unfortunately for both Sanchez and Denver, that seems to be his specialty.
Oddly enough, Sanchez has not been terrible throughout his career. In his time with the Jets he led the franchise to two straight AFC Championship Games but most of the credit was given to his defense. So this role should have been easy for him, right?
Not as easy as some would think. Since his last AFC title game appearance in 2011, Sanchez has woefully diminished in talent. The infamous “butt fumble” still hangs like an albatross for his career highlights.
So how is post-Manning life going to be in 2016 for the Broncos? There’s a chance that all of the gloom and doom surrounding the quarterback spot may just be false fear. Maybe Elway and Kubiak are true quarterback whisperers and Siemian can guide this team to a respectable record.
Or, maybe it’s the truth and this season will be tough to watch for the defending champs.
Maybe the Broncos should’ve made sure Osweiler was committed and they would’ve avoided a complete factory reset at the quarterback spot. Alas, it is too late for that now. This is the hand that Elway and Kubiak were dealt, possibly by their own doing. Regardless, this is by far the toughest road to repeat for a Super Bowl champion in some time, if not ever.
The rebuilding process may take a while in Denver. It’s just a matter of how long fans wearing the orange and blue are willing to wait.