Keenum latest field leader to ride Broncos’ QB saddle
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It was a small moment in an otherwise routine offseason practice. But from across the line of scrimmage, Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. saw something he liked.
One of the club’s mainstays, Harris watched as the new quarterback, Case Keenum, barked at his offensive team- mates between plays.
“The offense was kind of jogging, and he was like, ‘HUDDLE UP,’ ” Harris recalled. “He takes command out there.”
It might not seem like much, but for a team that has been desperately searching for an answer under center and offensive leadership in the two years since Peyton Manning retired,
moments like that are major as the players prepare to report to training camp Friday.
For all the star power that remains on defense — Harris, linebacker Von Miller and first-round pass rusher Bradley Chubb — the Broncos know that if they’re going to rebound from 2017’s disappointing 5-11 finish, Keenum will have to lead them.
By signing Keenum — instead of chasing Kirk Cousins or using the No. 5 overall pick on a passer — Denver is banking on the 30-year-old journeyman’s breakout 2017 season in Minnesota as the beginning of a career renaissance, not an aberration. Keenum threw
22 touchdown passes (against seven interceptions) while winning 11 regularseason games after taking over as the starter, leading the Vikings to the NFC North title and to the brink of the Super Bowl.
The pursuit of Keenum came after the Broncos cycled through three quarterbacks in 2017. Trevor Siemian, who won the starting job in training camp for the second consecutive year, struggled with turnovers and his confidence and lost the job in October. Brock Osweiler, who’d landed back in Denver amid a bizarre NFL journey that took him through Houston and Cleveland, completed just
56% of his passes in six appearances. Paxton Lynch, a first-round pick in 2016, showed little progress during a season derailed by injuries to his shoulder and ankle.
The trio combined to throw 22 interceptions to just 19 TD passes. The offense ranked 17th in total yards and 27th in scoring.
After signing Keenum to a two-year, $36 million contract (half of it guaranteed in 2018), general manager John Elway and coach Vance Joseph declared him the starter. Even though Elway thoroughly scouted the draft’s top quarterbacks, he selected Chubb, arguably the best defensive player available, with that fifth pick. That solidified Keenum atop the depth chart and cemented the position heading into camp for the first time since 2015, Manning’s final season.
Keenum’s presence has brought a sense of relief and stability, especially for veteran receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, who spent the previous two offseasons wondering who would be throwing them passes in September. Thomas, the club’s longesttenured player as he enters his ninth season, called Keenum’s arrival “energizing” and said he’s appreciated the way his new signal caller has already taken over as the offensive leader.
“He takes control of the huddle. I know that I was in the huddle one day, and I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait. We’re missing ... ’ and he said, ‘I got this,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ So it’s stuff like that,” Thomas said recently. “You don’t have to worry about getting reps with multiple guys. Your focus is to get reps with Case and only Case.”
But it isn’t only the offensive players adjusting to Keenum. He’s getting used to the new role himself.
This is the first time in his six-year career that he’s entered camp as the unquestioned starter. The only other time he was the opening-day quarterback was with the Rams in 2016, when Los Angeles had No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff waiting in the wings. By November, Goff was in the lineup.
Even last year, Keenum was supposed to be the backup to Sam Bradford and an insurance policy should Teddy Bridgewater not be able to return to the active roster. But Keenum replaced Bradford, whose balky knee acted up, in Week 2 and wasn’t truly entrusted with the starting job until mid-October, when it was clear Bradford’s knee would be a long-term issue.
Still, Minnesota’s offense was never really designed with Keenum in mind, so he’s embracing the opportunity to call Denver’s system his own.
“It’s nice to have the freedom to come out here and compete and really pursue just excellence that I want out of the quarterback position and out of my craft, and just the leadership too that goes along with that,” Keenum told USA TODAY.
In rebuilding the playbook this spring, Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan have studied Keenum’s games with the Vikings and have referenced his time with the Texans (201214), when Joseph was a defensive assistant under then-coach Gary Kubiak, now a Denver personnel executive.
Musgrave has largely scrapped last year’s attack and will attempt to maximize Keenum’s ability to both move within the pocket and throw on the run. It should feature plenty of play-action (which will require the rapid development of a young running back corps) and other West Coast, quick-pass concepts Keenum is familiar with.
“In a league that is very competitive, most of the teams are the same outside of the quarterback position. So if you don’t have that guy, from a leadership perspective, from a playmaking perspective, it’s hard to win games in this league. The rest you can fix. You can coach your way through the rest,” Joseph told USA TODAY.
“I think having Case gives us a honest hope that, if I do my job from a coach’s perspective and the players do their job, we can win football games.”
Keenum spent much of the summer in Denver, acclimating to his new city and spending time with Sanders, Thomas and other skill position players — just another seemingly small thing the Broncos have missed in recent years yet critical for both an offense and quarterback with plenty to prove.
“For me, I feel like I’ve gotten better each year I’ve played, and it clicked and we won more games last year. That’s been the next step and progression in my career,” Keenum said.
“It’s not just winning games or trying to make the playoffs, not just win in the playoffs, but it’s playing on into February.”