Attention had already shifted and the Broncos couldn’t escape the inevitable, even in their own locker room, where a handful of flat-screen TVs hovered over them and reminded them often of what was to come.
In one of their final days of the 2017 season, those TVs aired a show dedicated to analyzing the 2018 NFL draft and its top quarterback prospects, a list that seemed to grow more intriguing by the day. A graphic flashed the mugs of a handful of players who had already become household names, including Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, Wyoming’s Josh Allen, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Southern California’s Sam Darnold.
, a 2016 first-round pick the Broncos had hoped would blossom into their regular starter, strolled across the room, stared up at the television and the list of incoming NFL talent, then promptly dropped his head and shook it in seeming disbelief.
Maybe he didn’t want to see that. Maybe he didn’t need to.
After more than two years, the Broncos are still on the hunt for a starting QB, and their future could be riding with one of those names on the television that day. Or, it could be a veteran on the brink of free agency, or someone acquired via trade. Or it could be a combination, to account for the near- and long-term future.
Nearly every option is a possibility for the Broncos and none of them guaranteed except one: The next starter for Denver will walk into a pressure-cooker as he attempts to rejuvenate an offense once run by and star on a roster built by .
“It’s an intense environment and they’re going to be expected to do a lot of great things and, not only on the field, but off the field and in the locker room,” former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said on a recent Altitude TV appearance.” … You have to galvanize not only that locker room and that organization, but the community. And then, like I told Trevor (Siemian) a couple of years ago, when you get that opportunity, you have to earn that respect. And how do you do that? When the ball is in your hand with a couple of minutes left and you take them down and score. That’s the only way you can earn your respect as a quarterback.”
Siemian did that more than a few times in winning a pair of offseason competitions that, on paper, he should have lost, and guiding the Broncos to a total of 13 wins since 2016. But his time atop the depth chart didn’t last. The Broncos relied on Brock Osweiler for a stretch, but benched him too when blowout losses continued. They gave Lynch a chance, but his return was cut short by injury. And they rotated through all three once more before the season closed.
The Broncos — a franchise in which its greatest success has come with elite quarterbacks — have long touted their “Plan A.” Itap the only plan that exists, the say, unless it doesn’t. Or can’t — as has been the case since Manning retired two years ago.
The Broncos still boast a top-five defense, still have a pair of elite wide receivers in and , and last year had a 1,000-yard rusher in . But the biggest piece has been missing, and since December, Elway has not-so-subtly flaunted the Broncos’ offseason agenda.
He stood on the sideline at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise to watch Allen guide Wyoming to victory, flew to Washington to see Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins take down the Broncos days later, then requested the Broncos’ staff coach Mayfield in the Senior Bowl.
“We wanted to have an opportunity to get to meet him,” Elway said of Mayfield. “Obviously we’ve seen what everyone else has seen, what he can do on the field and the type of player that he is. To be able to be around him and get to know him a little bit was important.”
At the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., the Broncos’ coaches received an up-close look at both Allen and Mayfield, a pair of polarizing quarterbacks for very different reasons. One has the size and upside but a glaring issue with accuracy. The other has the skill and aptitude and accolades to boot, but questionable size at just over 6 feet. But as Elway knows and readily admits, any draft pick is a gamble.
“There are a lot more unknowns going into the draft than there is in free agency,” he said. “We’ll look at all of the holes that we do have, see whatap available and also how everything fits with what we want to do and the value thatap there. Trying to manipulate everything to where we get the best bang for our buck when it comes down to cap dollars as well as the best football team.”
Senior Bowl week has been among the Broncos’ major stops en route to the 2018 season. When they return, they will review their findings, possibly retool an early iteration of a draft board, begin to dive into free-agent candidates, and analyze their roster and salary cap situation.
Everything and everyone is fair game along the way. It always has been for a team that once asked Manning to take a paycut and requested DeMarcus Ware accept less after helping the team to a Super Bowl victory.
But no piece of Denver’s 2018 puzzle is more important than its quarterback.
“I felt like we had a kid that I thought had potential to be something real special and I still think he’s going to be,” Plummer said of Siemian. “Too bad it’s on another team, it looks like.
“Now, whoever they bring in here, know what you’re getting into, son.”
