Broncos’ Siemian, Lynch start off-season even but will another arrive?
While their fans ponder another veteran QB arrival such as Tony Romo this off-season, the Denver Broncos say it’s a two-man race between incumbent Trevor Siemian and former first-round pick Paxton Lynch.
“I’m happy with the guys we have,” new offensive co-ordinator Mike McCoy said. “That is our No. 1 focus right now to get the two quarterbacks that we have right now on our roster ready to play.”
Siemian was ready last year, Lynch not even close.
An afterthought even when Peyton Manning retired and Brock Osweiler bolted, Siemian handily beat out veteran Lynch, the former Memphis star, and veteran Mark Sanchez in 2016.
Siemian went 8-6 as the starter and Lynch 1-1 in relief as the Broncos missed the playoffs a year after winning Super Bowl 50.
Both men will find themselves on equal footing when the off-season training program begins in April. Lynch, however, might be able to parlay his projected higher ceiling into an advantage.
General manager John Elway told sports radio 104.3 The Fan in Denver this week that the team was “really excited” for Lynch to compete for the starting job and that Lynch was “going to be here and have a great career with the Denver Broncos for a long, long time.”
“Hopefully we get proven right,” Elway said of the notion that Lynch is the future of the franchise. “Sometimes ... it takes a while for the answers to play out. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Siemian threw for 3,400 yards and 18 touchdowns last season but shoulder and foot injuries limited his mobility and accuracy down the stretch. Lynch threw for 500 yards and two scores in three games.
Although Lynch was effective coming off the bench in Week 4 at Tampa Bay, he looked uncomfortable in a Week 5 loss to Atlanta and in a victory at Jacksonville in Week 13.
The Gary Kubiak-Rick Dennison regime didn’t put Lynch in his comfort zone — the shotgun — as much as he would have preferred in those two starts, something new coach Vance Joseph and McCoy seem more willing to do, judging by McCoy’s comments this week.
“It’s our job in the next couple of months to figure out what each one of those guys do and take advantage of their strengths and try to minimize their weaknesses,” McCoy said Tuesday. “It’s going to change, but they’re going to start off on the same page in their playbook. We’ll figure that out as time goes. We’ll see what these two players do (well) and what do they like also.”