Denver Broncos should look to add quarterback depth in the draft
With all the talk of Tony Romo and other veteran possibilities, the Denver Broncos should continue to target QB depth through the NFL Draft…
There has been plenty of talk about what the Denver Broncos should do at the quarterback position, but in my mind, the biggest move has already been made. In the 2016 NFL Draft, John Elway traded a third round pick in addition to the 32nd overall pick in the first round to move up and select Paxton Lynch, the quarterback out of Memphis.
As we all know, Lynch showed both positive and negative signs his rookie year, but that’s typically the story for any rookie at any position.
The Broncos also saw nearly a full season of football from 2015 seventh round pick Trevor Siemian, who proved he was at least an option moving forward and was one of the best fourth quarter quarterbacks in the NFL this past season.
The only problem was, Siemian struggled in the first three quarters of the game, leading to one of the toughest seasons the Broncos have had offensively since 2009-11.
That type of offensive output simply won’t set well with John Elway, which has led many to believe that Elway will get trigger-happy this offseason and go after the next ‘Peyton Manning’ quick-fix. This year, it seems to be Tony Romo that everyone wants to project to the Denver Broncos.
While I certainly wouldn’t be upset about Romo coming to Denver, it also probably wouldn’t be my first choice. The Broncos have a player with starting experience in the NFL in Siemian, and they have a player they invested heavily in with Paxton Lynch. They should look to add another quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft to be their third quarterback and someone they can develop.
One area the Broncos have already significantly improved this offseason is the area of coaching and player development. The hiring of Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator and Bill Musgrave as quarterbacks coach was the start of something huge for this Denver Broncos team.
Both McCoy and Musgrave have been part of developing some very good quarterbacks — young and old — in the NFL, including their most recent work with Philip Rivers and Derek Carr.
It may take some more patience, but the Broncos will put pieces around their quarterbacks to be able to, as Elway puts it, ‘win from now on’. The same will be true for whatever quarterback this team wants to draft.
It’s not an overly deep class of players at the quarterback position, but there are players that would be worth a look on day three and the Broncos could do worse than adding a new quarterback into the mix.
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Iowa’s C.J. Beathard was my top ranked senior quarterback heading into the season, but injuries and terrible receivers caused the 2016 campaign to be a nightmare for Beathard, who was one of the best players in the Big Ten in 2015.
There’s also Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly, a troubled but talented individual who played some of his best football on the biggest stage. If Kelly can get his act together off the football field, he might be worth investing on it.
Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs is someone who has proven himself as a playmaker, but needs some work on accuracy and ball placement. As a developmental project, this is the type of guy who will put his head to the plow and work hard to be a good NFL quarterback.
There are a number of other options for the Broncos to look at drafting on day three, and depending on what other areas they feel are needing attention, I see no reason why they shouldn’t add some more young competition at quarterback and continue to build depth at the position.