Denver Broncos quarantine quarterback options for 2020 season.
The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and for the first time in what feels like a lifetime, the Denver Broncos have a young quarterback with huge upside as a long-term starter.
Behind Drew Lock, however, there are question marks. The Broncos brought in Jeff Driskel, a very good athlete at the quarterback position who has been in the league for a few years but hasn’t set himself apart as a clear starting option.
Still, Driskel’s strong arm and ability to make plays with his legs make him almost the ideal backup option in today’s NFL for teams not looking to necessarily develop a player behind an already established veteran.
If the Broncos are forced to put Drew Lock on the COVID-19 reserve list at any point this season, Driskel has enough athletic flash to his game to keep whatever flame the Broncos have going at the time stoked.
There are not many teams that have three quality starting options at the quarterback position if any. The Broncos have 2019 undrafted free agent Brett Rypien as their current third quarterback, and while Rypien was at one point a UDFA he showed some solid upside in his years starting at Boise State.
Even with three quarterbacks on the roster currently, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Broncos put Rypien on the practice squad, and it’s been reported that the Broncos — among other teams — are considering a ‘quarantine’ quarterback for the 2020 season.
This player would essentially be training away from the facility and making themselves available at a moment’s notice, potentially using the same virtual reality technology Drew Lock used last year while rehabbing from a preseason injury to stay ready in case their number should be called.
So who are some options out there for the Broncos to realistically bring in at this point for a quarantine QB? What would the team even be looking for?
Let’s look at some candidates, but let’s also look at some of the qualifications for such a player first.
Identifying a quarantine QB
How do you go about picking a quarantine QB for 2020?
Does it have to be a seasoned veteran? Do they have to be stashed on the active roster? Is young preferable to old?
Some of that is subjective, some of it isn’t.
The Denver Broncos, and every NFL team in 2020 for that matter, have specific roster exceptions for the 2020 season that they would not otherwise have.
Most notably, practice squads are being increased from the previous increase of 12 to 16 players. Not only that, but four of those practice squad players can be protected from signing with other teams each week and six of them can be vested NFL veterans, meaning a player like Josh McCown — who has been in the NFL since 2002 — could be signed to a practice squad in 2020.
So, the answer to the question do they have to be stashed on the active roster? is no, they do not.
They certainly can be, but then that player who is presumably not at the facility will count against your 53 instead of being 1/69 who is not consistently around the team and the facility.
The other option besides having a player who isn’t at the facility is just simply putting the practice squad or a group of players on a different field and in a different part of the locker room. NFL teams are smart enough to figure something out.
If I were John Elway, here are some things I would be looking for in a possible quarantine QB.
- Upside
- Younger
- Willing to be a practice squad player
The Drew Stantons and even Josh McCowns of the NFL free agent world aren’t overly thrilling options, and there’s no guarantee guys like that would even agree to come on as practice squad players in the first place.
McCown signed on out of retirement with the Philadelphia Eagles last year for $2 million. Practice squad players ain’t making $2 million.
Even if it’s not about the money, a player like McCown is far more valuable around the locker room than away from the facility.
I would be seeking a younger player (in the 30-ish range or less) with some significant Wild Card upside if the Broncos actually had to use them in a game. This means I’d be looking to identify standout traits like a big arm and big athleticism (see: Jeff Driskel) along with a player who would be willing to be stashed on the practice squad.
This year’s practice squad rules also allow for temporary call-ups to the active roster and teams can promote practice squad players twice without having to subject them to waivers before re-adding them to the practice squad.
These rule stipulations almost make having a fourth quarterback a no-brainer for most if not all teams.
The question is — can your team find that diamond in the rough? The Broncos certainly have to consider a player’s ability to learn and operate Pat Shurmur’s offense from a distance, but the current quarterbacks had to do that this offseason anyway.
Mike Klis named off a bunch of quarterbacks in his recent column about the potential of a 4th QB entering the fray for Denver, including some names that could actually be very intriguing and some that simply don’t move the needle for me.
In addition to some names that may appear on Klis’ list, I want to give you my top four options for the Broncos’ quarantine QB position for 2020.
1. Kyle Sloter
The Detroit Lions added veteran backup quarterback Chase Daniel this offseason after letting Jeff Driskel hit free agency, and then they also released former Broncos preseason star Kyle Sloter.
Sloter was not only a preseason star with the Denver Broncos, but the Minnesota Vikings as well.
The Broncos initially signed Sloter as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Colorado in 2017, and after his monstrous presesaon, he decided to sign with the Minnesota Vikings instead of the Denver Broncos and that decision may have been a little too personal.
Considering the Broncos’ QB woes over the last three seasons, it’s not difficult to see where there might have been an opportunity for the former preseason star to see some regular season action in orange and blue.
The Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2017 when Sloter signed there? Pat Shurmur, the current Denver Broncos offensive coordinator.
The Vikings kept Sloter through the 2018 season and he was waived at final cuts in 2019, signing onto the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad (where Vance Joseph, his HC in Denver is now DC) the next day.
The Detroit Lions signed him off the Cardinals’ practice squad when Jeff Driskel went on IR last year. Sloter came this close to starting a regular season game in Denver but the Broncos faced David Blough instead.
With his athleticism and former preseason stardom, would there be a more welcomed quarantine QB by the Broncos’ fan base than Sloter? I’m not sure.
2. Vernon Adams
The Broncos have done some due diligence on interesting quarterbacks of late.
It wasn’t too long ago that the team was reportedly interested in a workout with CFL quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who didn’t wind up taking (or getting) any NFL opportunities.
They were also interested in XFL star quarterback PJ Walker, who ended up signing with the Carolina Panthers.
I don’t think the Broncos have to be done looking to other professional leagues for options as a fourth quarterback, and CFL star Vernon Adams has to be close to the top of the list for me.
One of Draft Twitter’s biggest swings and misses, Vernon Adams was a 2016 NFL prospect after a stellar career in college at Eastern Washington and one year with the Oregon Ducks. Some felt he could be the next Russell Wilson or Drew Brees as a smaller QB with athletic ability and an accurate arm.
Adams didn’t make it to an NFL roster but he’s made a great career for himself up North. He was on top of our recent list of potential CFL players to consider signing in 2020.
With Adams, you are getting a guy who has started a lot of professional games at this point, and even though they haven’t been in the NFL, I like his upside in a short window if the Broncos need a spark.
This is a guy who can use his arm or legs and his experience should at least give him enough at the NFL level to be able to not make a ton of really bad mistakes out there if his number is called.
Again, I’m looking for guys with some of the highest upside, and Adams’ ability to throw and run (24 pass TDs, 12 rushing TDs last season in Canada) is more intriguing than bringing in a journeyman NFL veteran with no mobility or proven upside as a passer.
3. Colin Kaepernick
Coming in at no. 3 on this list is my personal favorite option — Colin Kaepernick.
There will be a large number of NFL athletes and coaches following Kaepernick’s social justice pursuit with their platforms this season, and in that regard, I no longer think he’s a publicity threat to NFL teams.
Even though that’s not a good reason for teams to have blacklisted him up to this point, it seems to be the primary reason beyond just Kaepernick’s football abilities. Even though Kaepernick was not playing at an MVP level when he last took an NFL field, he was playing better than a lot of quarterbacks that have remained in the league or have been signed by other teams in the last four years.
Even considering Kaepernick is going to be coming in a bit cold, there are many reasons to think he could work as a fourth quarterback (or third, or second) in Denver behind the current guys. I wrote an entire post about it earlier in the offseason.
Say what you want about this situation, there are a lot of things you can read into to believe the Broncos might do something like this if Kaepernick is amenable to it.
The Broncos have a number of coaches who have worked directly with Kaepernick in the past, including head coach Vic Fangio (former 49ers defensive coordinator) and running backs coach Curtis Modkins (Kaepernick’s last NFL offensive coordinator).
The presence of those coaches is a major factor and it can’t be overstated that the Broncos were one of a few teams to send a pro scout to Kaepernick’s workout just last year. Even though the location of the workout moved and the scout was not able to ultimately attend, the Broncos had him take a not-so-convenient detour and trip to the original workout site to watch Kaepernick workout.
There is also the fact that the Broncos were among the finalists to apparently sign pass rusher Aldon Smith this offseason. Smith wound up signing with Dallas, but that shows the Broncos are willing to bring in guys who might not be so popular among the fan base for off-field things if it makes sense football-wise.
It’s also just as reasonable to think the Kaepernick ship has sailed in Denver, and that his previous meetings in Denver with John Elway were the final nails in the coffin of his time there.
Consider also, though, that the Broncos brought back Brock Osweiler when it made sense, and in the aforementioned Mike Klis post, he mentions that the team did ‘due diligence’ on Trevor Siemian before Siemian ultimately signed with the Titans.
If it makes football sense, I think the Broncos would do it. If Kaepernick is amenable to do it, I don’t think there are many better options if the Broncos need a break-in-case-of-emergency QB. This would also give them direct access to watching him work out, and they could promote him to more than just a quarantine QB if things go well.
Kaepernick matches the size and athletic profile of both Drew Lock and Jeff Driskel, so the offense wouldn’t have to change for him, either.
4. Cole McDonald
A seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Cole McDonald was recently released by the Tennessee Titans in favor of former Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian.
Without preseason games, it was going to be tough anyway for McDonald, but this was a surprising and quick trigger on his release regardless.
McDonald wasn’t a model of consistency at Hawai’i, by any means, but there were times when he looked like one of the most dominant players in the country at the quarterback position as well.
I would love to see the Broncos attempt to unearth that with their quarterback brain trust of Pat Shurmur and Mike Shula.
McDonald is a tremendous athlete who is always willing to go down swinging, but he’s capable of catching fire. His athletic traits are certainly worth the look, if nothing else.
Over the last two seasons, McDonald had 15 games with three or more touchdown passes, showing off his upside even with a funky release in his throwing motion.