Day 19: Broncos Training Camp Observations

Paxton Lynch

The understatement of camp continues to be that Paxton Lynch has the highest upside of the three quarterbacks. In an interview with Sirius XM NFL, cornerback Chris Harris had this to say about Lynch.

First, Lynch has the height of Brock Osweiler, but is more athletic than the ex-Arizona State quarterback. If Osweiler reached top speed he was fine; however, the type of scrambling style to avoid pressure was more lumbering than you see from Lynch. The roll outs in the Gary Kubiak offense will give a defensive coordinator nightmares forcing them to spy Lynch every play. Lynch is also electric with the ball in his hands and a true gunslinger in every phase of the word. Lynch is the future of the quarterback position for the Denver Broncos.

In camp, Lynch has been up-and-down having rookie moments at time but is showing more consistency of late. It is that type of steadiness that will move him up the depth chart over Mark Sanchez and Paxton Lynch. Even though, Sanchez is competing against Trevor Siemian for the starting job, it should be Lynch who Sanchez should be worried about. If Lynch outperforms the veteran, it is possible the Broncos could choose to release or trade Sanchez forcing the Broncos to roll with two quarterbacks in the regular season.

The Chicago Bears preseason game, despite some conservative play calls, Lynch displayed tremendous arm strength from a quarterback the Broncos fans have not seen since the Jake Plummer days. Lynch’s ceiling is extremely high, but until he works with the number one offense the playbook may continue At six feet seven inches and 244 pounds, Lynch should not be able to be as fleet of foot as he is. No quarterback at that height has been able to move the way Lynch has in camp and in college.

Lynch has displayed the arm strength and confidence on deep throws wowing the fans in practice. He made another deep throw to Mose Frazier for 50-60 yards with solid placement as a rookie. Again, he was competing against the third string defense, but it is hard to look past those throws. More consistent Lynch will be in practice, the more his reps up the depth chart will grow.

The outcome of the Broncos QB race could see separation in the scrimmage with the 49ers. Certainly, will go a long way to who the Broncos will name as starter for Saturday’s matchup, but after the amount of reps Trevor Siemian took in practice, the team may very well name him starter for the game. In my opinion, the quarterback will be changed at the end of preseason. Trevor Siemian will be named starter, followed by Paxton Lynch and Mark Sanchez (possibly released or traded). Sanchez’s turnovers will be his undoing causing him to give his second team reps to Lynch.