After back-to-back losses in which the Broncos have scored a total of 10 points, the team is still seeking the long-term solution at quarterback position — and a short-term one, as well.
By now, the majority of Broncos fans seemed to have emotionally moved on from Trevor Siemian, knowing the second-year starter just doesn’t possess the total package of smarts, skills and guts to live up to the lofty standard of the Mile High City. And while backup Brock Osweiler is another option for a Broncos coaching staff that’s desperately seeking points on offense, the evaluation of Paxton Lynch becomes priority number one on a team that’s sinking.
The team’s two meaningful touchdowns over the last four games feels like a chapter closing on Siemian. At the moment that it becomes evident that Siemian isn’t showing progress, the Broncos will need to make a change — and as soon as Lynch is healthy enough to play the position, coach Vance Joseph needs to make the switch.
For the second year in a row, Lynch failed to impress this year in training camp and preseason. Too many passes left his strong arm only to sail out of bounds with below-average accuracy, and he seemed as far away from becoming an NFL starting-caliber quarterback in 2017 than he did the year prior.
The Memphis product never showed strong pocket presence, and displayed an all-too-common, ‘scramble-first’ mentality that young quarterbacks lean on when the clock ticks and adversity hits. It’s the safe way out of pressure, but it’s the opposite mindset that that one you want from your starting quarterback.
Failing to grasp the complex NFL style in year-one is understandable, but much like Siemian’s seemingly failed progression from year-to-year, Lynch failed to demonstrated that he was anything more than a deer in the headlights in his second go-round of camp and preseason — and that’s a major red flag.
So if Lynch isn’t ready, why turn to him? The answer to that is simple: The raw, untapped potential that made Lynch a first-round draft pick.
‘Potential’ is inscribed upon the headstones of front-office careers across the NFL. Nobody truly knows how any player will perform, and there’s no shortcut to finding out — that requires game-action. There was once a time where raw talents like Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Carson Palmer rode the bench for their rookie year or longer until they were thrown into the deep end. It’s not uncommon, and it doesn’t mean Lynch won’t find success.
However, unless this season is to be wasted with poor quarterback play — which is what’s happening of late — the only beneficial approach for the rest of the year is to discover if Lynch is or isn’t the long-term solution.
If Lynch fails — well, it’s impossible to score fewer than zero points.
That may be a hard pill to swallow for fans, but such is the harsh reality of the post-Manning era. Due to the unsuccessful effort to continue success at the position after Manning retired, the Broncos are now in a worst-case scenario — holding three vanilla ice-cream quarterbacks while seeking dreams of rocky road — with the most important position in football in the balance
To go into next year still wondering if Lynch can handle the role — and handcuffing the franchise until they can find out — is unacceptable, especially considering an upcoming offseason that will feature many potentially available, high-end quarterbacks and young, upcoming talent in the draft. The Broncos must determine if Lynch is their future. That question seemingly has been answered on Osweiler and Siemian, but it’s still an open question with Lynch, and they need to close it.
