5 best passing seasons for first-year Broncos quarterbacks

No. 4: Trevor Siemain, 2016

Passing yards: 3,401

Touchdowns: 18

The first quarterback to get a crack at being the starter following the retirement of Manning was Trevor Siemain, but that was like Plan C or maybe even D that year.

Siemian was a seventh-round pick who was really never supposed to amount to anything more than a camp arm or a practice squad guy.

In the offseason following Manning’s retirement, the Broncos traded for Mark Sanchez and used a first-round pick on Paxton Lynch. The veteran Sanchez was going to act as a bridge to get Lynch into the starting role but there was one problem — both guys were terrible.

Instead, head coach Gary Kubiak had to turn to Siemian by default. Kubiak likely didn’t have a major issue with that since it was under his advice that the team give Siemian a shot in the draft.

And he wasn’t bad at all.

Siemian would be the team’s starting quarterback for the next two seasons to varied results. It was clear that he was more of a backup than anything, but he met the challenge head-on and gave the team his best.

Siemian helped the Broncos to a 4-0 start in 2016 before just missing the playoffs with a 9-7 record. You can still make the case that since Manning’s departure, he might be the most effective quarterback the team has had in that time.