1. Brett Rypien, QB
What is anybody really expecting out of Brett Rypien heading into this game?
Rypien saw his first career regular-season action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense, which might be the best defense in the entire NFL when the season is over with.
Rypien completed all nine of his throws, he just completed the last one to the other team in the red zone.
Coming out of Boise State, it was clear that Rypien had the skill set to, at some point, be a starting quarterback in the NFL. That wasn’t just the opinion of Broncos fans after he was drafted, either. Rypien had some tremendous tape out there in his four years at Boise State, not showing off a rifle of a right arm so much as he showed the ability to make timely, accurate throws and put the ball where it needs to be consistently.
Rypien can read a defense and run an offense efficiently. Can he do it at NFL speed, in prime time, on the road, in a must-win game for the Broncos?
Rypien will need a strong performance from the offensive line which will be dealing with a lot of blitzes from Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (as Nicholas Manning pointed out in his key matchups piece).
Who knows? The Broncos won in Trevor Siemian’s debut. They won Case Keenum’s debut. They won Brandon Allen’s debut. They won Drew Lock’s debut.
As many quarterbacks as have taken the ball since Peyton Manning retired, the one pretty consistent thing is that these guys have all helped lead the team to victory in at least their first start. Will Rypien be the same?