It’s no surprise that the Denver Broncos are in the midst of a quarterback completion. It’s also no surprise that veteran Mark Sanchez has a slight lead on Trevor Siemian for the starting job, with both being well ahead of rookie first-round-pick Paxton Lynch.
However, what will come as a surprise is Gary Kubiak‘s final decision, because he’s not planning on giving any indication on when that verdict will come.
“As far as making a decision, I don’t have a timeline on it right now,” Kubiak said. “I want to get to work and have as good of days as we can possible have. We’ll go from there.”
Although Kubiak wants to take a slow, wait-and-see approach, the rest of the offense would like to have a decision as soon as possible.
“The faster we get the [starting] quarterback, the better we’ll be,” Demaryius Thomas said.
Thomas, although typically quiet, wasn’t shy in voicing what he thought would be beneficial for the offense. After a subpar season, Thomas wants the Broncos do anything and everything they can to help the offense, specifically the receivers, improve.
“It’s easier for the starting receivers to see who they are going to have to connect with, so the offense can be better than what it was last year,” Thomas said. “We were 31st in passing and we want to be better than that.”
Fellow Pro Bowl receiver Emmanuel Sanders echoed Thomas’ feelings. When asked if he wanted the quarterback situation decided soon, he quickly responded, “of course, of course, of course.”
Though, he was careful to concede that it was Kubiak’s decision above all else.
“That’s one of the situations that however Kubiak wants to go about it, that’s how we’re going to go about it,” Sanders said.
Last season, the Broncos had a hard time getting on track as Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler jumped in and out of the lineup. Thomas just wants the opportunity to form the best chemistry possible with whomever the starter is.
“All quarterbacks are different,” Thomas said. “It’s just mainly getting reps with everybody and whoever [Head Coach Gary Kubiak] picks.”
As in typical fashion, Sanders wanted to look at how waiting to decide on a quarterback could actually benefit the team down the stretch.
“You never know what will happen in the season,” Sanders said. “Somebody might get hurt and those reps that the quarterbacks are taking can be extremely valuable when the season starts.”
Even though it is just the first day of training camp, Kubiak’s most important role of the offseason may be finding the right quarterback to start without waiting too long to make that decision. Kubiak certainly played the quarterback dilemma well last year, but this year may be even more difficult.