Now that Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler have left Denver, the defending champs appear to have a large void to fill at quarterback. But Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press doesn’t necessarily agree with that sentiment.
“I think anyone that they plug in is going be better than what they had last year,” Stapleton said Wednesday when he joined Renaud Notaro and Big Dee White on Mile High Sports AM 1340 to discuss which remaining quarterback on the market would be the best fit at quarterback next year.
“I think they’re going to be okay, whoever they get there,” he said.
Everyone knows Denver is a defensive-minded team, but nobody seemed to realize just how poorly Osweiler and Manning performed.
“The quarterbacks that quarterbacked this team last year put together the second-worst quarterback rating in all of football,” Stapleton said.
The Denver quarterbacks combined for a total quarterback rating of 76.2 last season, which was only ahead of the abysmal St. Louis Rams. Now that both Manning and Osweiler have left, not many options exist in free agency.
“I think that RGIII has a little bit more of an upside to him,” Stapleton said. “Having said that, maybe they’ll go with [Ryan] Fitzpatrick.”
Robert Griffin III had a quarterback rating of 82.2 in 2013, which turned out to be his worst season with the Redskins. But he is injury prone, as he has torn his right ACL twice.
If the Broncos decide to go with a veteran like Fitzpatrick, they can expect steady play. He hasn’t posted a quarterback rating below 80 since 2011, and that includes playing with four different teams.
“I think the guy that would be perfect would be A.J. McCarron,” Stapleton said. “He’s better, probably than two-thirds of quarterbacks that are starting in the NFL right now.”
McCarron has three career starts, but has posted an impressive quarterback rating of 97.1 with six touchdowns and only two interceptions.
The problem with acquiring the more desirable quarterbacks in a trade is the cost. Stapleton was quick to point out that quality does not come cheap.
“You’d probably have to give up not only picks, but players,” Stapleton said. “They’re not going to give up on him unless you gave them the moon and Elway has proven that he’s not going to give the moon away.”
Whether the Broncos have RGIII, Fitzpatrick, McCarron, or someone else dropping back next season, it shouldn’t matter, as they all posted better statistics than the Broncos quarterbacks did in 2015.
Listen to the full discussion in the podcast below…
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