There is a lot to digest around the Denver Broncos quarterback situation from the last few days. The weekend began with general manager John Elway deflecting questions about the possibility of signing Colin Kaepernick to fulfill a backup role and ended with former first-round pick Paxton Lynch receiving the boo birds in front of the home crowd at Broncos Stadium.
But let’s not forget the events leading into the weekend. On the latest team depth chart, Lynch dropped to third-string behind former Mr. Irrelevant Chad Kelly. This marked the third straight training camp Lynch fell behind a seventh-round selection on the depth chart.
Then Elway dropped this quote:
“We’ve got to have confidence that that guy that’s going to be the backup (quarterback) can play and win football games,” Elway said according to NFL.com. “And so that’s why we’re still in that process of trying to see if we’ve got that guy behind Case.
“Even though Chad played very well on Saturday night — we’ll see how he does this week — but if something were to happen to Case, can he come in and continue to win football games for us?” Elway said. “That’s the big part of the evaluation process and that’s still going on.”
Reading between the lines, Elway is all but outright admitting Lynch is a bust.
What Adding a Veteran Quarterback Would Mean for Paxton Lynch
It’s sometimes hard justifying three roster spots to quarterbacks let alone four. With the exception of the New York Jets two years ago, teams simply don’t keep four quarterbacks on the active roster.
That likely means if the Broncos add a veteran quarterback, Lynch, who the team viewed as their future franchise quarterback when they traded up five spots to select him in 2016, will be the odd-man out.
Prior to camp, Kelly was the obvious choice to cut. The former seventh-round pick could possibly pass through waivers and join the Broncos practice squad. But with Kelly now ahead of Lynch on the depth chart, that doesn’t appear likely to happen.
The Broncos aren’t going to let draft position from two years ago make their current roster decisions. Only play on the field will, and Lynch isn’t carrying his weight. On Saturday against the Bears, he completed just 5-of-11 passes for a measly 39 yards and took two sacks.
Bust Territory?
Outside of the preseason, Lynch has appeared in just five games. That’s a small sample size, but the fact he hasn’t been able to earn more playing time is very concerning.
It’s not as though the Broncos have experienced great play behind center the last two years. At times, Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler have been downright awful, and yet, Lynch still hasn’t been able to earn the starting job.
Last season, he went 0-2 as a starter and threw for 295 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. During three starts as a rookie, Lynch averaged just 6.0 yards per attempt, and that average only improved to 6.6 last season.
In his career, he’s either thrown an interception or been sacked on more than 15.0 percent of his dropbacks.
Even if Lynch makes the Broncos roster, he’s buried far enough on the depth chart that it will take multiple injuries for him to see substantial playing time in 2018. He will likely head into his fourth NFL season with just a handful of NFL starts.
That’s the best case scenario for him in Denver. After sorting through all the aftermath of the Broncos weekend, remember Elway made one thing rather clear in his press conference last Wednesday – the Broncos are ready to move on from the former 2016 first-rounder.
