The Denver Broncos will likely begin their title defense with Mark Sanchez as the starting quarterback. If you’re less than thrilled about that, you’re excused.
Mark Sanchez has been average at best during his career. His claim to fame is the “Butt Fumble,” and he’s yet to prove that he’s anything more than a punching line.
Now, you could argue that, “Well, maybe he just hasn’t been on a good team yet,” and you might be right, but the Jets were fairly decent in his first couple of years in the league; they even went to two straight AFC Championship Games.
Since then, though, his win-loss record has plummeted. After going 19-12 in those first two years as a starter, he is a combined 18-23 with the Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. And while neither of those teams can be considered great, they were still fairly talented. Talented enough that a good quarterback should have no problem winning some games.
It is possible that with a defense as good as the Broncos’, Sanchez will be solid enough to win games. Is he going to be Peyton Manning? Of course not. But he could possibly be as good as Brock Osweiler.
Yet, if it turns out that he cannot get the Broncos back to the playoffs — which would not be a shock — Paxton Lynch will be waiting in the wings for the Broncos.
Lynch is a quarterback who can throw and run with the ball effectively, giving the Broncos a dual threat they have lacked in recent years. Lynch took a previously hapless program in the Memphis Tigers and made them into a bowl team. They even beat Ole Miss this past season, and their coach, Justin Fuente, was hired to take the place of legendary coach Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech.
The big question is: How long should the Broncos give Sanchez if he isn’t playing up to par?
That’s a tougher question that it may seem on the surface. While the easy answer is that it’s all about wins and losses, the deck is stacked against Sanchez, with the Broncos’ schedule looking mighty dangerous through the first half of the season.
They start with a couple of tough games in Carolina and Indianapolis, and after that, they are on the road the next two weeks at Cincinnati and at Tampa Bay. It’s not unrealistic to think that Denver comes out of Week 4 with a 1-3 record. What then? Will Denver fans be calling for Sanchez to be benched?
Most definitely, but is it the right move? If Lynch has shown even the slightest amount of upside, the answer is probably “yes.”
