If the NFL Is a QB-Driven League, the Broncos Are in Trouble in the AFC West

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league. It’s a mantra that is repeated ad nauseum on television, the radio, online and in print.

Yes, print. Newspapers are still a thing. I rather like them.

It’s also a mantra that many NFL teams apparently ascribe to. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have seen first the Los Angeles Rams and then the Philadelphia Eagles mortgage their futures for just the chance to acquire the mythical “franchise quarterback.”

If this mantra is true—if teams in the National Football League will go only as far as their quarterbacks carry them, then the reigning AFC West (and Super Bowl) champion Denver Broncos are in trouble.

Because where that franchise signal-caller is concerned, the Broncos are the odd man out in their division.

With the unexpected departure of Brock Osweiler in free agency (to Houston at a robust $18 million per season) and the not-so-unexpected retirement of Peyton Manning (who apparently hasn’t retired from commercials), John Elway and the Broncos spent a good portion of the offseason in scramble mode under center.

Get it? John Elway? Scramble mode? HA! I kill me!

There was at least one report or rumor regarding just about every passer available. As Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported, the Broncos inquired about Ryan Fitzpatrick before deciding his price tag was too high. Per Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated, a trade was essentially worked out that would have landed Colin Kaepernick in Denver before it fell apart over him taking a pay cut.

Since that flurry of pre-draft speculation, things have become clearer at quarterback for the Broncos.

Denver appears to have (they hope) brought in its quarterback of the future, due to a small trade up at the end of the first round of the 2016 draft. With that move, the Broncos selected Paxton Lynch of Memphis, a 6’7″, 244-pound cannon with legs who Mike Mayock of the NFL Network wrote has “elite arm talent and athletic ability.”

As Bleacher Report’s Cecil Lammey reported, it was a pick that left head coach Gary Kubiak grinning like the Cheshire Cat in the days after the draft:

I tell you honestly for me I am just excited for the kid. I’m just very happy for him, I think this kid, John and I talked about him last night, we love his energy, he has a passion for the game, he is young coming out and I think this growth is going to take place quickly and I can’t wait to get started next week.

Kubiak also took exception to the prevailing wisdom Lynch, who played exclusively in the shotgun in Memphis’ spread offense, was likely looking at a year (at least) as a clipboard-toter before taking the reins.

No, Kubiak said, Lynch will be afforded every chance to win the starting job in training camp:

Yeah, I mean they’re all going to compete. Everybody competes, and I’m expecting him to come in here and make up some ground really quick. But I think it’s a great group to go to work with. I know [quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Greg Knapp] and [offensive coordinator Rick Dennison] are very excited about him, so we’ve got to make up as much ground as we can.

Elway toed a similarly optimistic line while talking to Denver’s 760 AM:

John Elway told @DenverSports760 this morning: “We think [Paxton Lynch] is going to be ready quicker than a lot of people think.”

— Ryan Koenigsberg (@RyanKoenigsberg) May 5, 2016

In no way am I criticizing the pick itself. I think the Broncos got much better value with …

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