We all know the deal. But we’re slow to get down to the real nitty-gritty when analyzing the competition between and . Around here, either the quarterback runs apountry or apountry runs the quarterback out of town.
After the first day of spring practice, more than 100 days before a game that actually counts in the NFL standings, Siemian climbed on a box and faced the gathered media horde, when teammate ambled by the crowd.
“Trev-or, you’re my favorite,” Sanders cooed, teasing the quarterback in a singsong voice that would have sounded right at home in a middle-school lunch room.
Between now and the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in September, Siemian and Lynch will be tested, prodded and poked 100 different ways.
“Decision-making, accuracy, command of the huddle, consistency,” Broncos coach said Tuesday, ticking off the obvious ways his quarterbacks will be evaluated.
Joseph, however, left out what might be the most important factor: Nobody puts up with more bunkum in apountry than the quarterback.
For sixteen seasons, let all the bunkum bounce off his big shoulders. tamed the beast by studying 24/7, so no football crisis would ever catch him unprepared. On the other hand …
As much as his teammates liked him, Jake Plummer didn’t color between the lines often enough for his coach’s liking. Brian Griese held it together for a while, only to take a wicked tumble down the stairs. (Or was he pushed?) Impatiently checking his watch, acted as if the whole dang deal was a waste of his time.
One thing you can trust about Siemian. He doesn’t mess around with the heavy responsibility of being the quarterback in Denver.
“If I get worse this next year coming up, I probably won’t be around very long,” said Siemian, whose humble demeanor plays well in apountry. “I think I have a chance to get better.”
Although his raw physical gifts were undeniable, Lynch sometimes seemed to be more adolescent than man as a rookie. I asked him the most important lesson from his first year as a pro.
“Just what it takes to be an NFL quarterback,” Lynch replied. “You can only hear about it so much and people can tell you only so much about it, until you go through it yourself, you’re in the building every day and you’re around these older vets that have been in the league for 10 or 11 years.”
At precisely the moment Lynch mentioned the unblinking eyeballs of vets constantly judging him, safety walked toward the conversation, loudly clearing his throat.
As a rookie, Lynch never completely lost the look of a kid strapped in the caboose car of a roller coaster, tense for the next turn that would drop the bottom out of his stomach.
A year ago, Lynch seemed to be begging for approval from the Denver defense. I can’t promise you his grasp of the offense is markedly improved, but itap obvious Lynch is more prepared to come back and challenge defensive teammates after throwing an interception in practice.
So I wondered aloud: Was Lynch now less apt to get rattled by all the little ways NFL vets test a young QB?
“I would have to say yes to that,” Lynch said.
The Denver locker room is chock-full of big talent and personalities. Either the starting quarterback grabs the reins or risks getting pulled face down in the dust. The players will let us know which QB they think can best command respect.
Siemian vs. Lynch? Itap fun to debate. But maybe thatap not really the competition being staged.
Want to be quarterback of the Broncos? The job is a man-eater.
Taming the beast will be the real test for Lynch and Siemian.
