Speaking through tears of sadness, the legendary quarterback, Peyton Manning, announced these words that induced tears of sadness for Denver Broncos fans worldwide, "There's something about 18 years, 18 is a good number and today, I retire from professional football." The retirement of Manning brings about the end of an era and the beginning of chaos for the Denver Broncos franchise. With the retirement of the star quarterback comes the question: Who will take over as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos?
This is a question that remains unanswered, even after Broncos' head coach, Gary Kubiak, watched the start of the preseason football games these past two weeks. In week one of preseason football, Denver challenged the Chicago Bears. Veteran quarterback, Mark Sanchez, threw 10 completions for 13 attempts for 76.9 percent accuracy. He threw for 99 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Rookie quarterback, Trevor Siemian, threw seven completions for 12 attempts for 58.3 percent accuracy. He threw for a total distance of 88 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Veteran quarterback, Paxton Lynch, threw six completions for seven attempts for 85.9 percent accuracy. He threw for a total of 74 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. (Box score and play by play available at Fox Sports.)
This makes it very difficult right off the bat for coach Kubiak. Personally, I am not going to include Trevor Siemian in this conversation due to his lack of accuracy. Should Kubiak go with the quarterback who throws touchdowns, but who equally as frequently throws interceptions? Or should he go with the quarterback who throws no touchdowns, but has higher accuracy? Looking forward to this past week's game gives us a glimpse at the results of this game of roulette between Kubiak and the future of the Broncos' franchise.
In the 31 to 24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Denver quarterback race became even more unclear. In game two of the preseason, Sanchez went 10 for 17 attempts for 58.8 percent accuracy with no interceptions or touchdowns. He threw for 120 yards with two fumbles. Lynch went 15 for 26 attempts for 57.7 percent accuracy with one interception and two touchdowns. He threw for 113 yards with no fumbles. Siemian went 10 for 14 attempts for 71.4 percent accuracy with no touchdowns and one interception. He threw for 75 yards with no fumbles. (Box score and play by play available at Fox Sports.)
This game made it even more of an impossible choice for Kubiak. He now has to decide between a somewhat accurate quarterback who throws a good distance but fumbles frequently, a somewhat accurate quarterback who throws a pretty good distance and scores, but also throws interceptions, and a pretty accurate quarterback who throws a short distance, but also throws interceptions.
In a recent interview, Kubiak revealed the possibility that Lynch might have a shot at the starting quarterback job, but did not establish him as the winner of the position. In the interview, he released the following statement: "I'm going to play the guy that I think is best for our team."
For more information, statistics or game times, visit the Denver Broncos' website.
