The Internet was a sleepy place late Monday night when news broke that the Broncos intend to make Case Keenum their next quarterback as soon as NFL free agency begins Wednesday.
But the rising sun Tuesday brought a heavy volume of mixed reactions across social media about Keenum being tabbed to lead the Broncos, who have struggled mightily at the position since Peyton Manning retired following the 2015 season.
Let’s start with the hosts of “First Take,” ESPN’s morning dish of punditry served at high volume. Co-host Max Kellerman called Keenum’s performance while guiding the Vikings to an 11-3 record in his 14 regular-season starts as MVP worthy. Stephen A. Smith on the other hand? He’s not buying it.
. is here for Case Keenum's potential move to the Broncos.
— First Take (@FirstTake)
Skip Bayless, the who hosts FS1’s “Undisputed” alongside former Broncos great Shannon Sharpe, said Elway “took the short-term, safe way out” by signing Keenum. But Bayless insisted he didn’t necessarily view that as a negative given the Broncos’ previous struggles in drafting successful quarterbacks.
“I’ve always liked Case Keenum,” Bayless said. “Is he Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers? No, he’s not, but he’s pretty good, and he’ll be pretty good for the Broncos next year.”
Sharpe, meanwhile, believes the move signals that John Elway could be aiming to collect multiple picks with a trade in the first round of next month’s draft.
“I believe that’s what John would like to do,” Sharpe said, “accumulate some picks and go into the draft and maybe build some depth through young guys.”
"I've always liked Case Keenum. Is he Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers? No, he's not, but he's pretty good, and he'll be pretty good for the Broncos next year." —
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed)
Bill Simmons, the longtime ESPN personality who now runs The Ringer, believes the Broncos got the best end of the free-agency frenzy at the quarterback spot:
I’d rather have Case Keenum as my QB than Kirk Cousins. I cant be alone right?
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons)
And what about the fan reaction? The most succinct way to describe it is all over the board. Some fans on Twitter were quick to offer of the evidence of Keenum’s stellar 2017 season in Minnesota, in which he completed 68 percent of his passes, threw 22 touchdowns against seven interceptions and led the Vikings to the NFC championship game, as proof the 30-year-old is just reaching the top of his game.
Case Keenum has more playoff wins than Derek Carr.
— 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧 (@CameronParkerPO)
Case Keenum has more playoff wins than the Raiders, Chiefs, and Chargers have in the last 10 years.. combined
— . (@BroncosRT)
https://twitter.com/HaitianHoratio/status/973584765264654336
Upon hearing about @casekeenum7 contract w/ Broncos
— Wade Smith (@Smitty74allday)
As a Vikings fan, I'm bummed Case Keenum isn't being brought back. I'll be rooting so hard for Denver this year
— Landen Russell (@LandenRussell)
Maybe I'm just clueless but if I were the Vikings I would have kept Case Keenum over Kirk.
— Dan Pilkerton (@pilkyd)
Case Keenum had the 5th lowest INT% among starters last season.
Broncos obviously needed to fix that area haha
— Sayre Bedinger (@SayreBedinger)
For others, though, signing Keenum isn’t the splash they were hoping for at the quarterback spot.
When I woke up to the Case Keenum news
— Dylan (@DylztheWest)
Seriously.. Case Keenum?? Can we just play without a quarterback 🙃🙃
— Jerika Mennenger (@JerikaMennenger)
If taught us anything itap all about regression to the mean. Why do the Broncos think Case Keenum’s last season will be the exception and not the norm that is his 45 QBR
— Jonathan Moskowitz (@jon_moskowitz)
If Case Keenum were lunch
— Colin Daniels (@southstands303)
On Tuesday afternoon, players began weighing in with their take on the team preparing to sign Keenum. Chief among them was all-pro pass rusher Von Miller, who had previously publicly campaigned for Denver to sign Kirk Cousins.
Miller was quickly on board with Keenum.
“Looks/Feels right to me!” Miller wrote in an Instagram post. “We got what we were looking for! Franchise QB that’s the perfect fit for DENVER! @johnelway with deep 3 pointer! Like always! … Tim for me to hold up my end of the deal now!”
