Strike 1: Barring major injury, Zach Wilson will be under center and taking snaps in an NFL regular season game – or games – in 2024.

Whether or not that happens in Denver remains to be seen.

It appears unlikely – at best – that Wilson will win the three-way Denver Broncos quarterback competition currently going on at training camp. If you believe both the chatter and the legit news reports coming out of Dove Valley, it seems pretty clear that either rookie Bo Nix or holdover Jarrett Stidham will be Denver’s starting quarterback when the preseason starts, and – again barring major injury – one or the other will win the job and be the starter when the regular season starts in Seattle on Sept. 8.

Wilson, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2021, will probably get the start for Denver in the final preseason game, but after that, who knows. He could very well end up on the waiver wire.

Broncos Country should certainly hope that doesn’t happen.

Wilson – whether he plays in predominantly orange or not – could still provide a nice boost in the Broncos rebuilding efforts.

Denver took a shot when they traded a sixth-round pick to get Wilson from the New York Jets a week before the NFL Draft last April. Wasn’t much of a gamble actually. They also got a seventh round pick back in the deal, and still had Stidham under contract. The Broncos brain trust had no way to be sure they’d be able to draft Nix with the 12th pick in the first round, so Wilson was an insurance policy.

They got Nix, so now it’s a question of whether or not that can cash in that policy.

Currently by NFL standards, Denver has a surplus. What will they do with it?

Presumably, they’ll hold on to Wilson as long as they can. Everyone knows that starting this week, it’s open season on NFL QB’s. Unless Roger Goodell has a magic spell he’s cast over the entire league, quarterbacks – plural – are going to start going down with various injuries, including some that will be serious. It will begin soon. It’s like the plague. It’s unavoidable. When was the last football season when you didn’t hear reports about the “unprecedented number of QB injuries the NFL is experiencing.” Truth is, it’s very precedented. It happens every single season and it’s going to happen this year, too. And with history as a guide, some big names will be included.

It could happen to one of the Broncos three QB’s, which is why it’s always good to have insurance.

And if it doesn’t, it becomes that perfect scenario for the orange and blue: Denver ends preseason with three healthy NFL-capable quarterbacks. That could sync up with a point where teams who have lost a signal caller start getting a little desperate, signing guys off practice squads or even off the street. There will be multiple phone calls made.

A team looking to contend could give the Broncos a nice little trade return for the strong armed and still young Wilson. The investment of a sixth-round pick could end up being a pretty shrewd move if Denver can get say a third round pick – or better – in return for their No. 3.

It’s the way of the NFL now. At some point in the coming season, Wilson will be on your TV taking snaps for an NFL team. Even if it’s not in orange and blue, it could be benefiting the Broncos.