Denver Broncos undrafted sleeper: QB Kyle Sloter
The Denver Broncos are always finding gems in the undrafted free agent class. Quarterback Kyle Sloter could be this year’s diamond in the rough…
If you haven’t read the crazy story of how Kyle Sloter became a college quarterback, much less a high priority undrafted free agent signing of the Denver Broncos…
Sloter’s journey to simply getting the opportunity to take snaps in college could be titled: Kyle Sloter and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
As brief as I can possibly put it, Sloter originally committed to play quarterback at Southern Mississippi out of high school. He was on track to start in his second year but the coach who recruited him there was let go. The new coach at Southern Miss installed a new system, and brought in a different quarterback.
Sloter was moved to wide receiver, where he earned his playing time and eventually, they pulled his scholarship. He was able to transfer to Northern Colorado (Greeley) and was recruited to play quarterback. Unfortunately, because of a hiccup in his credits transferring schools, Sloter was spending the majority of his weekdays catching up on getting the credits he needed to be eligible.
Because of that, Sloter was missing practices while trying to compete for a starting quarterback job, and that formula wasn’t a successful one. He started the season as UNC’s backup quarterback in what was his final shot at any collegiate playing time. He was even prepared to come in and play wide receiver if necessary.
As fate would have it, the team’s starting quarterback went down with an injury, and Sloter stepped in.
He would not be replaced.
Sloter isn’t setting the world on fire just yet, but the skills are absolutely there for him to be the sleeper of the Denver Broncos undrafted free agent class. While the team hasn’t confirmed their UDFA class at the time of this writing, Sloter himself has:
Happy to announce that I will be wearing number 1 for the Broncos!
— Kyle Sloter (@KyleSloter) May 10, 2017
Sloter joins Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, and Chad Kelly in the Denver Broncos’ quarterback room. While Kelly recovers from injuries, Sloter will have the first crack at third-team reps and get the opportunity to show off his arm strength and athleticism to the Broncos coaching staff.
Why should you be excited about this player as an undrafted free agent? Well, we’ll know more as soon as UDFA bonus numbers are released, but it’s been reported that Sloter’s bonus will be among the highest the Broncos have given out. He was expected to be the team’s final pick in the 2017 NFL Draft before the unexpected fall of Chad Kelly between picks 203 (where they took RB De’Angelo Henderson) and 253. The Broncos weren’t anticipating Kelly still being there, so they told Sloter they wanted him as an undrafted free agent.
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More adversity for a kid who has had enough already.
But Sloter decided to take the Broncos up on their offer and compete for a spot this offseason. He was highly sought after when the draft concluded, but the Broncos snatched him up.
The new offensive coaching staff in Denver includes Mike McCoy and Bill Musgrave, two guys who have worked with some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL today, both young and old. If there’s any group of guys in the league I’d want developing a young quarterback (or four), it’s them.
Not to mention, the legend himself — John Elway — is in the building and always around to offer what he can to these players.
Sloter’s development will be incredibly interesting to monitor. He’s a fantastic athlete who can sling the ball around the yard. We know he has raw ability, but very little experience against top flight competition and very little starting experience in general.
He’s a project, but a year with the Broncos on the practice squad learning nuances of the game, becoming a professional, and helping the Broncos out by emulating opposing quarterbacks could pay huge dividends down the road.
Having Sloter aboard now is not just a move to kick the tires on a player. The Broncos really like this young man. They really like their other three quarterbacks as well. If Denver didn’t have an interesting QB situation before, they sure do now.