The best young quarterback playing on the field this past Sunday was the one playing for the home team. That’s right, the same signal caller whose face isn’t on the cover of any magazine or TV networks. The home quarterback threw four touchdown passes in the Denver Broncos win over the Dallas Cowboys. The same quarterback whose quarterback rating (75.2) through two games this year is at a Pro Bowl level, and whose completion percentage is at 65. So, why is it so hard to believe in Trevor Siemian?
The Denver Broncos Believe in Trevor Siemian
The Broncos Believe in Their Quarterback
The inability for some to believe in Siemian may stem from such quotes as, “He wasn’t drafted in the first round,” from Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. “He’s a guy who comes from Northwestern University. He doesn’t like talking to the media much. As the season continues, you might hear people talking about him, but it really doesn’t matter.”
At least not on a day like this, it doesn’t. Not when Siemian was the best young quarterback in a game they were supposed to lose against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. While Denver’s new head coach Vance Joseph works on developing a coaching philosophy, one thing is clear early in the season; Joseph’s transformational leadership style of coaching is working so far as the Broncos prove, once again, they are a team that can win with defense as long as Siemian does his job and limits turnovers.
The Denver Broncos like their quarterback a lot more than people on the outside might think.
“He’s a smart player, and he’s super-accurate with the football,” Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said. Talib later went on to say that Siemian has the attitude of a veteran quarterback and that Siemian could be a star on the team as long as the defense continues to make plays on the ball.
Projecting Forward
Despite the strong start, it’s still early in the season. In fact, the Broncos started 4-0 last season, then lost seven of their last 12 games and even missed the playoffs. Siemian’s total quarterback rating in 2016 was 49.7. The Broncos haven’t played a road game yet this season and there’s still plenty that could go wrong from now until early December.
Offensive line injuries are creeping, with rookie left tackle Garett Bolles leaving Sunday’s game (against the Cowboys) late. Siemian didn’t fare well throwing the ball downfield Sunday and still has a lot of work to do moving forward. He and the Broncos offense also have to work on limiting the turnovers.
Furthermore, this is a town whose Super Bowl titles were delivered by John Elway and Peyton Manning — a town where the expectations for quarterbacks are extremely high — and something about Siemian always seems to have not looked the part.
He was the Broncos second successor after Manning retired, and even after Brock Osweiler left for the Houston Texans, they still drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round. In other words, he feels a bit like the accidental quarterback — primarily getting the starting job just by showing up.
But what if Siemian is more than that? What if he’s a talented, accurate thrower of the football, who fell to the seventh round (because he got hurt at Northwestern during his final year), and learned something from Manning during his rookie season?
The truth is, Siemian is still adjusting to his role as the Denver Broncos quarterback. Fortunately, this Broncos defense showed once again Sunday that it can be the driving force that wins games. And, although the NFL season just began, Siemian has shown more since becoming the Broncos starter than he tends to get credit for. But his teammates and coaches believe in him and if his path continues to improve, the Broncos could end up being a dangerous team.
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