Trevor Siemian Only As Good As The Horses Around Him
The Denver Broncos aren’t getting Tony Romo this offseason. Trevor Siemian might be the best option the team has right now, but he needs help…
The offseason saga of Tony Romo culminated with a bombshell on Tuesday when the oft-injured and soon-to-be 37-year-old Dallas darling swapped the gridiron for a plum position in the broadcast booth with CBS.
While the Broncos’ interest in Romo cooled in lockstep with the steadfast efforts of Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones to find a trading partner, quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch were nonetheless locked in a degree of suspense despite repeated votes of confidence from the Denver brass.
As a seventh-round draft pick who was little more than a footnote before Brock Osweiler defected for Houston a year ago, Siemian clearly had the most to lose in the event of “Tony Time” at Dove Valley. Lynch is the slightly younger preferred son with the superior frame and copious raw ability the team maneuvered to swipe in the first-round of last year’s draft. As such, his fate–boom, bust, or bland– will feature prominently in the epitaph of John Elway as general manager.
New head coach Vance Joseph has reiterated since his introductory press conference in early January that the team will again stage an “open competition” at quarterback; meanwhile the Broncos have recently affirmed their willingness to acquire a third arm via free agency or this month’s draft.
Theoretically, Siemian performed well-enough in 2016 to merit strong favoritism for the starting role going into training camp later this summer. The Broncos went 8-6 in his 14 starts and could easily have stolen another win or two were it not for wide-receiver Bennie Fowler’s trampoline hands in Tennessee and the numerous team-wide gaffes that plagued their gut-wrenching home loss to Kansas City in Week 12.
Still, Siemian wasn’t a marvel. Lynch, on the other hand, at least has the potential to be. Thus, Siemian must prove himself as the best quarterback in camp all over again while the suits upstairs hope Lynch can accelerate his development in Mike McCoy’s more freewheeling and user-friendly offense.
It feels like it’s Lynch’s job to lose now; but if Trevor Siemian again wins-out, what can we reasonably expect from him within the construct of more progressive system, a modified front five, and a healthy C.J. Anderson?
Despite leading Denver to a 4-0 start before being sidelined with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder in early October, Siemian became red meat in the pocket once Anderson was lost for the year with a torn meniscus in Week 7. Absent the threat of a viable running game, the defending Super Bowl champions slaved away to mount their title defense with a redshirt freshman at quarterback, a rookie tailback, and an offensive line that was ranked 24th at season’s end by Pro Football Focus.
It’d be utterly comical had it not been true.
There’s reasonable expectation for Siemian to elevate his game a notch regardless of whether the offensive line play around him is appreciably better. But, in truth, there’s no overwhelming signals to date that it will be–not when the tackle positions remain extremely suspect and the draft is historically light on immediate impact players up front. Right tackle is currently manned by incumbent millionaire blanket fort Donald Stephenson and his not-so-trusty backup Ty Sambrailo, the former grading-out as the league’s worst offensive lineman in 2016 according to a January survey from Pro Football Focus.
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The Broncos signed free agent swing tackle Menelik Watson away from the Raiders last month after the glitzier pickup of former Cowboys guard Ronald Leary. From the appearance of things, this combination won’t be impactful enough to allow Denver to select an offensive playmaker with the 20th pick in the first round. Instead, it seems they’ll need to reach for a tackle out of desperation in the form of either Utah’s Garett Bolles or Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk.
Behind a new-look line anchored by Pro Bowl alternate center Matt Paradis, Siemian will need better protection and the balance of an honest running game in order to redeem last year’s 27th ranked offense. While there’s ample reason to trust that incoming OC Mike McCoy will be far more adept than his predecessor at masking Denver’s shortcomings with headier play-calling, the key to Siemian’s success will overwhelmingly hinge upon how his teammates play around him.
The little seventh-rounder-that-could won’t ever be gifted enough to shine within poor conditions, but he’s also too competent to fail if those around him are playing well.
He’s not sexy, but he might again be the best we’ve got.