After coming from a season with two good quarterbacks, namely Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, the Denver Broncos were suddenly left scrambling for a backup QB just weeks before the 2016 NFL season. And, for the team's opening game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night, it is expected that the team will struggle with Trevor Siemian as the Broncos' main passer.
Following the retirement of Manning and the departure of Osweiler, the Broncos were immediately able to patch up their broken QB bench by signing Mark Sanchez and drafting Paxton Lynch during the offseason.
However, due to Lynch's disappointing performance during practice sessions, and the team's decision to release Sanchez, the Broncos resorted to naming Siemian as their starting quarterback for the season.
The move by the Denver franchise to promote him is a bit surprising especially since he wasn't even a No. 2 quarterback in 2015, back when the team still had Manning and Osweiler. This is the reason why a lot of fans have labeled him as an unlikely QB.
His lack of experience, which stems from the fact that he did not see adequate playing time during his rookie year with the Broncos, could eventually lead to the Denver franchise losing to their Super Bowl 50 rivals on NFL 2016 Week 1 opening game.
If the Broncos decide to pull out Siemian during the upcoming game, then Lynch would get his shot of playing in an official NFL game. But, it seems the Broncos aren't too confident with him since the team recently brought in veteran QB Austin Davis earlier this week.
As noted by the team's general manager John Elway, Davis will serve as the No. 2 backup of Siemian. This means Lynch will be the team's third-string QB.
"He's coming to learn the offense," Elway said. "We'll take it one step at a time. "Let's put it that way. Anytime you bring in a guy this late, it's gonna take some time to get him turned around."
"Trevor's the guy," he added. "We've got a lot of confidence in Trevor and believe that he can do the job. It's Trevor's job, and he's not going to be looking over his shoulder."
The Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers Thursday Night Football broadcast on NBC will begin at 7:30 EDT, and can be watched online via live streaming here.
