It has been a bust 24 hours for the Denver Broncos in terms of news regarding the quarterback position.
No, nothing has changed with Russell Wilson. He is still the team’s starting quarterback and will be going forward, but there has been some shuffling around with the guys behind him.
Following the news that San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was lost for the season after breaking his foot on Sunday, the Niners plucked veteran quarterback Josh Johnson off the practice squad of the Broncos.
Johnson will now be the backup to Brock Purdy for the rest of the way.
But that left the Broncos with an open spot on the practice squad. On Monday, they filled that spot with another quarterback, bringing in Jarrett Guarantano.
Broncos add Jarrett Guarantano to the practice squad
Guarantano may be an unfamiliar name, but he worked out for the Broncos a couple of weeks ago.
He played at Tennessee from 2016-2020 in college before transferring to Washington State in 2021. He threw for 6,478 yards and 39 touchdowns across the entirety of his college career but went undrafted in April. Following the draft, he signed with the Arizona Cardinals.
Though he was never really competing for a main roster spot in Arizona behind Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy, he enjoyed a solid preseason, completing 17-of-30 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns in the three games he played in. That translates to a QB rating of 114.9.
Guarantano also has great size at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds.
Guarantano will now spend the last portion of this season on the team’s practice squad. He likely won’t see action in the regular season barring a disaster but he can show what he has during team practices and attempt to earn a future contract with the team following the season.
In addition to all of this, the Broncos plan to work out CFL quarterback Nathan Rourke on Tuesday. There is little doubt that the Broncos need to address the quarterback position as a whole before the 2023 season.