Paxton Lynch Should Be the Clear Cut Choice for the Broncos
By Steven Kriz
With the chatter about who the starting quarterback will be for the Broncos, I talk about why Paxton Lynch is the most logical choice to start in 2016.
The moment that Brock Osweiler decided that the grass was greener in Houston, the quarterback position for the Denver Broncos has been up in the air. The Broncos decided to bring in the former first round pick Mark Sanchez, and then decided to use their own first round draft pick on the raw, but talented Paxton Lynch.
Denver also had a holdover from last year, Trevor Siemian, who is also expected to have a legitimate chance to win the starting job for the Broncos. With all this being said, there is only one man that makes sense for the job, and that would be the rookie, Paxton Lynch.
The Broncos have one goal this year, and that is to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. Most people point to the Broncos needing a veteran presence in the huddle in order to have a chance at this, but that is nonsense.
In 2015, Denver had a clear cut formula for winning; great defense and a ball control offense. There is nothing to suggest that Paxton Lynch cannot be very successful with this
same formula, and there is precedence for a rookie having extreme success doing just that. Ben Roethlisberger, as a rookie, stepped in and led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 13-0 record in the regular season, and won a divisional round playoff game before ultimately falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. This was not the same Ben Roethlisberger we see today either; this was a far more raw version of Big Ben, who rode a dominant defense, a strong running game, and a simplified offense to a very successful rookie campaign.
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Lynch possesses many of the same qualities that Big Ben had as a rookie, and the team around Lynch would be an even better version of what Roethlisberger had in Pittsburgh as a rookie.
The Broncos won’t ask Paxton to do much; he will most likely hand the ball off 65-70% of the time, which is completely fine when you look at how C.J. Anderson performed in the second half of last season, and when you take into consideration the upgrades that John Elway made to the offensive line for the upcoming season.
Throw in fellow rookie Devontae Booker, and you can mark it down that the Broncos will have one of the most productive ground games in all of football. When Paxton does have to throw the ball, expect offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, and head coach Gary Kubiak to put him in a position to succeed, much the way they did with Brock Osweiler a season ago.
When Peyton Manning was hurt last year, and Brock had to go in, the Broncos did not put Osweiler in position to make a lot of mistakes. They gave him very little freedom to change plays at the line, and gave him a lot of very easy throws to make, so much so that Brock became visibly frustrated from time to time with the conservative nature of the play calling.
Paxton Lynch will be a lot more of the same, as they will give him very simple offensive sets, and give him easy throws to make, and then allow him to take the occasional shot down the field, which he does so very well. Where Lynch will excel this season, as he did at Memphis, and as Big Ben did and still does for that matter in Pittsburgh, is when things break down.
Once he is forced to scramble, he will be far superior than Brock Osweiler, as he is much more mobile and will be able to buy a lot more time then Osweiler ever could. This will allow Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders time to break free from coverage, and Lynch is a wizard at finding and hitting the open man while outside of the pocket.
Paxton won’t have a lot of play called for him as a runner, but will be able to extend plays with his feet, and will be able to pick up good chunks of yards running with the football when he feels the need to tuck it and go.
The ability to improvise when things break down is going to be the one trait that ultimately separates Lynch from the herd. When things break down for Sanchez, he has a knack for fumbling and forcing throws that become interceptions.
The one thing that will doom the Broncos season will be turnovers. The Broncos won during the first half of last season, despite turnovers, but come playoff time that would not have worked. They all but eliminated the costly turnovers in the postseason which was why they ultimately won the Super Bowl.
The one thing that Mark Sanchez has consistently done well over the course of his career is turn the ball over at an alarmingly high rate. It is very rare that guys change their stripes this late in their career.
Even Jake Plummer, who had a knack for throwing a lot of interceptions, took three seasons under Gary Kubiak before he finally learned how to take care of the ball. Sanchez will not be a Bronco for three years, so putting him in there would be a huge gamble, even when, to most, he seems like the safe pick.
Paxton Lynch attempted 443 throws his senior season at Memphis, and only threw for four interceptions. He will throw some interceptions as a rookie, as all rookies do, but if he can keep them to a minimum, as Roethlisberger did as a rookie (11 INT’s), the Broncos can stick to their ball control turnover as they did in the playoffs last year, and ride that defense.
If Sanchez isn’t going to be the man this year, the only other option aside from Lynch would be Trevor Siemian, who is just as untested as Lynch. The Broncos spent a first round pick on Paxton Lynch, not Trevor Siemian.
If there is going to be a learning curve either way, the Broncos are going to allow Lynch to be that guy to grow up in the line of fire. While Siemian may be more advanced in this offense, Lynch is going to be better of the two at making plays, and taking care of the ball, both of which will be vital to the Broncos success this year. Remember, as the playoffs showed us a season ago, a punt is not a bad thing with the defense that the Broncos possess.
Playing Lynch from day one is not about grooming a young quarterback and allowing him to gain experience. Playing Lynch now is about winning a second Super Bowl in a row. The Broncos do not need him to do much; he will lead a lot of drives this season that ends with a punt, and that is completely fine. He will
hand the ball off a lot this season which is a great thing because even if it leads to a punt, it will control the clock.
Paxton Lynch will extend plays with his legs, and make big plays with his cannon of an arm. There will be a time in future years when the Broncos will need him to be more, but like a young Ben Roethlisberger did, he can give the Broncos everything they need now. Broncos Country, please welcome your new starting QB, number 12, Paxton Lynch. He’s all the Horsepower that the Broncos need to hoist that Lombardi in Houston once again.