The Denver Broncos’ 2017 OTAs are about learning and installing new systems. Reading anything into personnel decisions and the depth chart from what’s happening at OTAs is an exercise in futility, especially at the quarterback position.
“Right now, it’s a learning process with a new offense going in,” head coach Vance Joseph said after Tuesday’s OTA practice. “Right now, everyone is learning. It is tough to evaluate the quarterbacks when everyone is learning. Sometimes the receivers mistake can fall back on the quarterback’s mistake. Right now, everyone is learning. Obviously in the fall, it would ramp up as far as decision making and who’s playing the best at each position.”
It’s understandable why Broncos fans are clamoring for answers at the game’s most crucial position, however. After finishing 9-7 and outside of the playoffs, Denver fans are anxious to get back to the postseason and nervous about sliding further down the ranks in the AFC.
In the latest power rankings put out by SI’s Monday Morning Quarterback, the Broncos rank No. 13 in the NFL. Of the 12 teams ahead of them, only the Miami Dolphins (at No. 12) have even a smidgeon of a question mark at the quarterback position. It is without a doubt the most important position on the field, and the Broncos are still trying to determine who will man it in 2017.
On Tuesday, Paxton Lynch took the first-team reps. He will continue to rotate evenly with Trevor Siemian through OTAs, and presumably during minicamp in June, with the focus being mastering offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s offense.
“I thought Paxton has been fine,” Joseph said about Lynch’s performance so far in OTAs. “He’s made some really impressive throws. He’s made some bad ones. Both guys have. Again, it’s the learning stages of a new offense. The point of OTAs, in my opinion for the quarterbacks, is to learn Mike’s system now so in training camp they can really compete for a job.
“Right now, it’s a learning process. Mike has put a lot of offense in. Some of those plays are really long,” Joseph said laughing. “I can’t even pronounce them, so it’s a process.”
At this point, Joseph isn’t even evaluating his quarterbacks’ mastery of the huddle or their play calling.
“Right now, you don’t,” he said. “I think in the fall you do because that’s part of the competition. Who can retain the information? Who can call the play in the huddle and obviously break the huddle? Who can make on-field decisions? That’s part of the completion. Right now, I wouldn’t say—right now, not yet. In the fall, absolutely.”
Message received coach. The fall is when it all matters. For now, it’s just about learning the system.
Featured Image Credit: Ryan Greene, 5280 Sports Network
