Denver Broncos will now have incomplete evaluation on Paxton Lynch

OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 26: Paxton Lynch
OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 26: Paxton Lynch /
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The Denver Broncos have been slow-playing the development of Paxton Lynch, and now enter an offseason of uncertainty with an incomplete evaluation…

The Denver Broncos lost their seventh consecutive game of the 2017 season, this one to the Oakland Raiders, no less. But the greatest loss of this game may not be simply the game itself. The great loss in this game will be the injury to quarterback Paxton Lynch, effectively ending any chance this team had of evaluating him for the rest of the season.

The Broncos had obviously hoped not only to get an extended look at Lynch this year, but also to see him play well. There were some things Lynch did well in his start against the Raiders early on, but as the game wore on, he missed too many throws and took to many sacks.

The offense simply didn’t go anywhere.

But, the Broncos aren’t going to the postseason this year, so you might as well try and put Paxton in situations to succeed. Even like Siemian was able to against the Raiders’ prevent defense, get Lynch some confidence throwing against softer coverage and at least completing a few throws.

Really, anything at this point to see what Lynch can do well would be great.

The Broncos now have to go back to Siemian for 2-4 weeks, as Lynch will be out with a high ankle sprain. That’s just the bad luck that has plagued this team all year.

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John Elway made the decision to draft Paxton Lynch, and he hired Vance Joseph as his head coach. He also has the power to decide whether or not he wants to stick with either or both guys going forward, but the situation with Lynch is a tricky one.

Do you hold out hope for a guy you picked in the first round, who has only started three games? Or, does Elway look at Lynch as a lost cause, someone who hasn’t been able to take advantage of a couple of golden opportunities in the NFL?

This is very murky water the Broncos are navigating right now, and it’s even worse now that Lynch isn’t healthy enough to play (again).

Their evaluation of him going into the offseason will be incomplete at best, as he’ll be lucky to come back for the final three games of the season from the sounds of it.

Even six games to close out the regular season might not have been enough to truly decide whether or not to move on from Lynch as a prospect, but the Broncos are now going to be forced to make that tough decision with an even smaller sample size.