Denver Broncos: Three Quarterbacks They Need to Look Into

Now that the coaches are hired and it is on to the business or resurrecting the Denver Broncos, who should they be considering at QB?

Nikola Jokic (pictured above) is not going to be available to the Denver Broncos at quarterback, though he is a gifted passer.  The only current Denver resident that may end up under center for the Broncos in 2019 is Case Keenum and that would feel like a failure, once again for John Elway and the crew at Dove Valley.

We’ve seen several solid quarterbacks come out of the NFL draft recently.  Mitchell Trubisky, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson are just a few names that have secured starting jobs, since the 2015 draft.  Of course, the crown jewel of that time is Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs rising star and a model for what it means to a franchise to get a franchise quarterback. Remember, the Chiefs had the top QBR passer in the league last year with Alex Smith.  Mahomes is a whole, other level.

I’ve been hyper-critical of John Elway and his track record with quarterbacks but I have to recognize that the landscape is bleak.  The draft is always a gamble, particularly past the top five to seven picks.  Late first-round through the end of the seventh round all can be lumped into the same bucket.  Chances are about 10% that someone from the late first on develops into a playoff-level starting quarterback.

Free agency provides little more relief, in the simplest terms, if someone is a star or has star potential, it is unlikely that they will be available.  What ends up being available are injury questions like Carson Wentz or not-quite the solution types like Teddy Bridgewater.  Denver has already gone to both of those wells repeatedly with Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch and Chad Kelly via the draft and Mark Sanchez, Brock Osweiler and Keenum via trade/free agent signing.

The coaching hire of Vic Fangio and his staff and the departure of Gary Kubiak have shown that Elway is still engaged and adept.  He’s got another shot at a quarterback and we’d like to help identify three types of quarterback they could get and a good example of each.