For the most part, Denver Broncos fans really have nothing to complain about when it comes to the team's quarterback play through the years. John Elway became one of the NFL's all-time greats as he started from 1983-1998. In the 17 years that followed, the Broncos had a variety of Pro Bowl players at the QB position, including Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler, and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. Despite some dud seasons with Kyle Orton at the helm and the Tim Tebow year in 2011, that was also a rather prosperous time in franchise history.
But the post-John Elway days have not all been good. In fact, some have been embarrassing, especially recently. Denver Broncos fans are currently experiencing an unprecedented drought of strong quarterback play for their beloved team. Russell Wilson was supposed to fix that last year but absolutely did not.
So who have been the team's worst QBs in the post-Elway era? For this, we're going to look only at closed chapters, so Russell Wilson doesn't qualify. We're also not going to look at one-offs, to players like Jeff Driskel, Chris Simms, and Brandon Allen are safe. This list is limited to players who were starters, or were expected to be starters, who simply stunk.
These are the three worst QBs in the post-John Elway era for the Denver Broncos.
3 worst QBs in the post-John Elway era for the Denver Broncos
3. Drew Lock (2019-2021)
It absolutely pains me to say this because I was a major advocate for Drew Lock when he was coming out of Missouri. I loved what he did in college and I thought he had a chance to be really good in the NFL if he could clean up a few things with his game. To be fair to Drew Lock, you never know what could happen in Seattle. I won't close the book on a story that's still being written.
But as far as his time with the Denver Broncos is concerned? There's really only one way to view it: Disastrous.
Drew Lock's rookie year was extremely promising. He showed off some playmaking skills in the preseason before suffering a hand injury that would land him on IR until late in the season. When he finally took over late in the 2019 campaign, Lock looked quite good, actually. He helped the Broncos to a strong 4-1 finish that season, completing over 64 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and just three interceptions.
It was all downhill from there, however.
After getting the starting gig for the 2020 season, Lock began an unfortunate downward trajectory. With the occasional good game mixed in, he completed just 57.9 percent of his passes from 2020-2021 -- 19 games in total -- with 18 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions, five rushing touchdowns, and 10 fumbles in that timeframe.
He lost the starting gig to Teddy Bridgewater in 2021, and would get the chance to play late in the season, only proving that the Broncos needed to go in a different direction. Lock just could never find the consistent accuracy in Denver, and while the lack of success from the team wasn't completely his fault for this stretch of time, I think it became clearer the more Lock took the field that he simply wasn't the player the Broncos thought he was at the end of the 2019 season.
2. Joe Flacco, 2019
The Denver Broncos tried to pitch the acquisition of Joe Flacco in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 as though it was something to be celebrated. John Elway infamously declared at Flacco's introductory press conference that he felt Flacco was still in his prime, but even "prime" Joe Flacco wasn't that good.
The reality of Joe Flacco is this -- the man caught lightning in a bottle in 2012. The Ravens were one of the luckiest teams in NFL history that year, somehow getting through the absolute gauntlet that was the AFC despite playing on the road for every playoff game, and finding a way to win the Super Bowl. Flacco, of course, was named MVP of that game as the winning quarterback typically is.
From that point forward, he became one of the most overpaid and overrated QBs in league history. He signed a deal which, at the time, was the largest in NFL history. Although it's typically a popularity contest, it's notable that Flacco -- a former Super Bowl MVP and a player who once signed the richest contract in league history -- has never made a Pro Bowl.
He came to the Denver Broncos in 2019 in exchange for a 4th-round pick and he made it clear that he wasn't there to mentor any young players. Not that he had to, but the Broncos drafted Drew Lock that year and Flacco decided to pee on his fire hydrant instead of embrace a leadership role for the young QB.
As the 2019 season got underway, it became clear that Joe Flacco was simply not "it".
He played eight games for the Denver Broncos and had an astonishingly low TD percentage of 2.3. He finished the eight-game stint with just six touchdown passes compared to five interceptions, taking 26 sacks and fumbling eight times in the process.
It is truly one of the absolute worst stretches of QB play I can recall from a Denver Broncos QB, and one of the most embarrassing displays of offense I can remember, in general.
1. Paxton Lynch (2016-17)
There can be no debate.
Paxton Lynch is the worst quarterback the Denver Broncos have had in the post-John Elway era, and Elway was the guy who drafted him.
To be fair, let's lay out all of the facts.
The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 NFL season. After the 2015 season, Peyton Manning retired, the Broncos held the last pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, and the team was obviously exploring alternate options before they ultimately selected Paxton Lynch in the 2016 NFL Draft.
The primary alternate option, at the time, was Colin Kaepernick. As a matter of fact, the Broncos and 49ers had agreed upon trade compensation for a trade to acquire Kaepernick, and the deal hinged on either the 49ers paying $4.9 million of Kaepernick's 2016 salary with the Broncos paying $7 million, or Kaepernick simply taking a $4.9 million pay cut. That did not happen, and neither did the trade.
The Broncos were forced to pivot off of what would have been a fascinating option -- Gary Kubiak coaching Colin Kaepernick in Denver.
After being forced to pivot, the Broncos obviously weren't getting Jared Goff or Carson Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft, so they took the only other guy who was being projected to go in the first round: Paxton Lynch. They could have kicked the can down the road to 2017 and possibly jumped into that quarterback market, which included some guy named Mahomes, but oh well.
Paxton Lynch, a first-round NFL Draft pick at the quarterback position, only lasted five games total in the NFL. That's got to be some kind of record for a player who didn't have to retire due to injury. The five games Lynch played for the Broncos were mostly brutal as well.
Lynch simply looked lost out there most of the time as an NFL quarterback, unable to execute simple concepts to the point that the Broncos simply refused to put him out there. In hindsight, it's kind of amazing they signed off on the selection in the first place.
Lynch ad intriguing physical gifts, but he didn't have the intangibles to cut it at the NFL level. He's been infamously accused of playing more Madden than studying his playbook upon arriving in the NFL.
The Broncos should have just taken Chris Jones in round one and Dak Prescott in round two of the 2016 NFL Draft, but hindsight is always 20/20. Lynch bounced around to the Seahawks and Steelers but hasn't been in the NFL for quite some time now and has signed with teams in the CFL, USFL, and XFL.