It’s obvious from the past few Super Bowls that top QBs get their teams to the big game. Look at the last 3 Super Bowls. Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger vs. Kurt Warner, and Drew Brees vs. Peyton Manning.

“Mistake-free” that McD.  Sure, Jay Cutler may have not been the right puzzle piece to the jigsaw here in Denver, and I trust McD’s evaluation of that scenario. However, the Broncos need to right the ship this offseason by bringing in someone with a powerful arm. It was apparent that last season the offensive coaching staff didn’t trust Kyle Orton’s arm enough to let him throw down field. Defenses stuffed the run, let Orton throw short, and quickly forced the Broncos into punting the ball. Orton wasn’t allowed to pass deep often enough to keep opposing defenses honest.

Josh McDaniels wanted a game manager, and that’s what he got in Orton. Orton kept the turnovers to a minimal level at the beginning of the season, but once teams figured out that his arm only goes for so many yards, they gave him those short passes. More than half of Orton’s passes went for 10 yards or less. When it was time for him to go long, he was out of practice, and I think he got the jitters. We need to complement guys like Brandon Marshall (if he’s back), Eddie Royal (nearly non-existent last year), and Jabar Gaffney.   

It was clear that the Broncos were either going to run the ball or go for the short pass because Orton rarely lined up in the shotgun. That’s one less element opposing defense have to worry about. It makes their job easy.

I don’t think drafting a QB is the right move here. Some of the eligible QBs up for grabs this off-season include:

Source: NFL.com

Some names that spark my interest are Byron Leftwich, but his susceptibility to injury worries me. Michael Vick is pure talent and watching a Vick-Marshall combo would be incredible, but he’s going to be asking for a lot of money and he’s not the same QB that left Atlanta. I don’t know if his ego would be able to co-exist with McD anyway. Jeff Garcia would’ve been an option about 5 years ago, and who knows how much he has left. JP Losman is a solid QB that has been looking for a stable home since he got the boot out of Buffalo. There’s always a possibility of the second coming of JP here in Denver, but that’s wishful thinking.

I know what you’re thinking - the guys I named above aren’t neccessarily big time QBs. I do think with the right surrounding cast, they could perform better in Denver than they have any where else in their careers.

 I really don’t have any solid answers right now, but I’m hoping the coaching staff will at least consider the possibility of ditching Orton. 

The QB position is a very sensitive subject here in Denver. After all, we haven’t had any stability at the position since Elway. That’s a long time to wait for another leader/playmaker to come along.

Sound off Broncomaniacs. Should the Broncos make a switch at QB?

1. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Brent Barry (Houston Rockets)

2. Byron Leftwich (Tampa Bay Bucs) and Andrew Bynum (L.A. Lakers)

 3. Al Harris (Green Bay Packers) and  Mikki Moore (Boston Celtics)

4. Jeremy Shockey (New Orleans Saints) and Chris Anderson (Denver Nuggets)

5. Ebenezer Ekuban (Former Denver Bronco) and Erick Dampier (Dallas Mavericks)

6. Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle Seahawks) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers)

7.  Anquan Boldin (Arizona Cardinals) and Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)

8. Dr. Evil/Mini Me and Mike Bibby (Atlanta Hawks)