In less than a week, The Denver Broncos have gone from having 3 quarterbacks to only 1. Their Hall of Famer has retired, and his understudy/QB of the future having tasted being the quarterback of the now has left for Houston. Only Trevor Siemian remains, a 7th round pick from the private step-child of the Big Ten, Northwestern. He's never taken a regular season snap in the NFL, and Siemian has never even practiced with the first team offense. To make matters worse, running back C.J. Anderson has signed an offer sheet with the Miami Dolphins. As a restricted free agent, the Broncos have 5 days to match the offer or the Power running back who got the Broncos through to the Super Bowl 50 win also walks. No problem since the Broncos have RB Ronnie Hillman and the best defense in the league, right? Save these: Hillman is an unrestricted free agent and his production was less than stellar, especially after Anderson got healthy near the end of October. Defensively, there are 3 problems. 1) Defensive tackle Malik Jackson is now a Jaguar. 2) The 7th best inside linebacker in the league, Danny Trevathon, who led the Broncos in tackles in 2014 is now a Chicago Bear. 3) Wade Phillips led defenses have a nasty habit of falling precipitously off in his second year as Defensive coordinator. Given that Denver still has the 'No Fly Zone' with 3 elite corners, T.J. Ward, who is the nasty at safety that I have argued is always the key to defensive success (Dennis Smith, Steve Atwater, John Lynch ...) and they have the very best pass rushing duo in football, Ward and Miller, I don't worry too much about the defensive strength ... for now.
The Quarterback position, however, is a full blown crisis. As St. Louis, Houston, Cleveland, Buffalo and even Denver itself proved last year it is extremely hard for even powerfully defensive teams to win while suffering from NoHasQB Simplex 1. Houston made the playoffs and laid an egg against KC because of quarterback play. Denver rode the defense all the way to a title, but one has to wonder how they'd have fared against a Pittsburgh team coming to town at full strength. With the greatest mind ever in football (Manning) and a mobile talented QB (Osweiler) the Broncos did just enough to win it all. Thay are not going to do that with Siemian. I feel like I'm wounding Bronco Nation seriously by even comparing this team to the Browns, but the comparison is apt. This has not been a good week to be a Bronco fan. When Elway retired, Denver had Brian Griese, son of a Hall of Famer. But Denver is not kind to QBs if they are not Elway or Manning or bear the hint of 'legendary'. It's possible that right there is why Osweiler left.
Brock is a Montana kid, from Kalispell. He will get all kinds of love from the good folks here regardless of circumstance. So it is worthwhile to examine what happened. The simple answer is money, money happened. Denver offered 16 mil a year with incentives for 3 years. Houston offered 18 million a year for 4 years with 37 of it guaranteed for 2 years. Of course he chased the money to Texas. Much is already being written about ego and slight that the Broncos benched him when they shouldn't have and blah blah blah. This had nothing to do with that, it was about cash up front. If we do want to speculate concerning the mind of Brock Osweiler, then let's look at what mattered. 1) Osweiler played high school ball in Montana, and then fled to Arizona. He was drafted by Elway and moved to the high hills again in Denver. But he and his wife still live in Arizona. It's just possible, more possible than the pundits who don't live here admit, that he just wanted to get the hell out of Winter in the Rockies. Also, there's this. Osweiler started for less than one season at ASU. He started a grand total of 7 games in the NFL and didn't complete the 7th after throwing 2 interceptions. This kid is a gigantic question mark, probably even to himself. He had 2 choices, go to a team that assured him of 37 million dollars regardless of performance (save that he's cut after his first year) or stay with a team that has the defense to pull his mistakes out of the fire. He followed the money, and he will be overpayed. Today, a person vociferously and angrily ranted about a characterization of Brock that he has ONLY won five games. They were important games, but that is accurate, and no amount of Montana pride is going to change that fact. He did not earn the money he will get, but he was smart for taking it. The Broncos were smart for not offering it. Osweiler might be terrific with Lamar Miller in the backfield and the best young receiver in football in DeAndre Hopkins. Or, he might fall flat on his face. The Texans were willing to make that bet, and Adam Schein agrees thinking the Texans will win more games in 2016 than the Broncos will. (This is the same guy who assured us all that the Colts would face the Packers in Super Bowl 50, just sayin' ...) Elway was smart for not taking that bet.
Still, the Broncos have no quarterback going into 2016. The 'word' is that they are dealing for a trade to acquire Colin Kaepernick. That would be a good fit. Except at offensive line and running back, the Broncos are deep. Kaepernick has flourished under coaches who understand quarterbacking (remind me what position Kubiak played) and a strong defense. Since San Francisco has more holes than a country signpost, he can probably be had for a second round draft pick. Much of Bronco Nation is telling us all to trust John Elway. In this case, I do. I, like many in Montana, would have loved to have seen a Montana boy be our quarterback. If not that, then a kid from former Big Sky member Nevada Reno will certainly do. If there is one thing I trust Elway about implicitly it is that he will find quality under center. I don't think Schein is right. Houston has to play Denver next year, and Osweiler will get to say 'hello' to Demarcus Ware, Shane Ray and Von Miller in a whole new way. KC has done well to keep their defense. San Diego has improved on defense through free agency. Oakland will be a terror next year. The Broncos, defending champions, will not be in the outhouse next year. The question is, will Brock Osweiler?
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