Quarterback Brock Osweiler is likely to make his fourth start of the season against the Redskins on Sunday, while second-year signal-caller Paxton Lynch — the team’s preferred choice to start — has not recovered sufficiently from a sprained ankle to take the snaps.
According to a report by ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, the Broncos simply didn’t see enough mobility from Lynch to be comfortable starting him on Sunday. Head coach Vance Joseph kicked the can down the road all week, stalling when it came to naming a starter with the obvious objective of getting Lynch the start. Osweiler has the most efficient game of his career last week after relieving the injured Trevor Siemian. Osweiler went 12-for-17 for 194 yards and two touchdowns through the air while running for another score as he led the Broncos back from a deficit to claim a victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Osweiler, a free agent after the season, likely deserved the start after his performance — and given Siemian’s placement on injured reserve after the game — he’s clearly the Broncos’ best available quarterback. However, at 5-9 and with nothing to play for , the Broncos desperately need to see how Lynch has matured as a player prior to a critical offseason in which the Broncos will have opportunities to bring in a quarterback — either an established player in free agency, or a younger one through the top-ten draft pick they’re likely to earn.
Osweiler’s job will be complicated by the fact that Legwold also reported that injured wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders (sprained ankle) and Cody Latimer (strained thigh) did not make the trip with the team to Washington and instead remained in Denver for treatment. Sanders and Latimer rank second and fourth, respectively, in receiving yards, meaning that the bulk of the work falls to Demaryius Thomas, whose 73 receptions on the year are more than the Broncos next two receivers combined. Thomas — and Osweiler — should expect double-coverage on the Broncos’ best receiver all game long.
Lynch, whose game has consisted of little more than scrambles and short dump-offs to the right, last seemed miles away from being to establish himself as an NFL starter very soon, and Joseph has insisted that the Broncos want to see him start another game this season. Expect Sunday’s contest to be Osweiler’s swan song in a Broncos uniform, and no matter how things turn out for the team against Washington, expect Lynch to start in the season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Broncos’ long-term future at that position completely up in the air.