The real reason why the Broncos need Kirk Cousins
What is the main reason why the Denver Broncos need Kirk Cousins? It all traces back to a mishandling of first rounder Paxton Lynch…
It’s exciting when your team is in a position to make a run at big name quarterbacks, whether in the draft or otherwise. The Denver Broncos obviously have a golden opportunity to land either Kirk Cousins or a quarterback of their choosing with a top five pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but where did that opportunity come from?
How did we get to this point?
The reason for the Broncos’ need of Kirk Cousins — or any top quarterback for that matter — traces back to the 2016 season, when they failed to hand the keys of the franchise over to their first round pick Paxton Lynch.
That’s right, a failure to commit to Lynch has led to the point we’re at today.
Between two coaching staffs — Gary Kubiak’s and Vance Joseph’s — the Broncos couldn’t quite find it in them to commit to the guy that John Elway had targeted as the future of the team not even two years ago.
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Lynch’s lack of development could obviously be the primary cause for that, but the guy has also only thrown 128 passes in two seasons. Are the Broncos able to make an adequate evaluation of him with that number of reps?
Apparently what he’s done in practice has been evidence enough that this team is exploring any possible option to move on this offseason, whether in free agency or the draft. Heck, the Broncos were even interested in possibly trading for Alex Smith, to a certain extent.
The point is, the Denver Broncos no longer view Paxton Lynch as a viable long-term option, but the reason for that is largely because they failed to let him sink or swim in actual on-field work.
Had the Broncos seen a full year or even eight games from Lynch, where he was able to make adjustments week in and week out, things might have been different. Of course, Lynch’s injury this past season has a lot to do with that, but we don’t know how circumstances might be different had he started that preseason game against Green Bay and not Lynch.
The predicament the Broncos are in right now — having to use premium cap space or having to use a premium draft pick on a quarterback — is a result of not knowing what they have in Paxton Lynch.