HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!
It’s my favorite time of the year. A) Preseason is over and Week 1 is just around the corner. B) My favorite beer is available again (Great Divide Hoss).
How did your team shape up through the preseason? The Broncos have had a weird one. A first round QB prospect that can’t play football well and isn’t even the best backup we have (we love you Kyle Sloter! until we don’t anymore), all of the defensive linemen are hurt in some way, and the front office decided to take a stick and poke at a wasp’s nest with the whole T.J. Ward situation.
I’ll be sad to see T.J. go if they release him, but I get why they’re doing it. They have a couple of decent safeties in Parks and Simmons, not to mention the new guy Carter. They still mishandled the situation, though. I hope it doesn’t fuck up the locker room.
As far as Paxton Lynch, he just doesn’t look the part of an NFL starting QB. They stacked the deck so heavily in his favor to help him win the job away from Trevor Siemian, and it wasn’t even slightly close. Kyle Sloter barely played college football and he looks stunningly better than Lynch in nearly every way. I’ve heard some of the talk that they should look for a veteran backup QB after cut-down day since Lynch is hurt, but I don’t think they should bother. For one thing, I can’t really believe any of them will look any better than what we have now. The other reason, though, is that the Broncos are paying basically minimum wage rates for all of the quarterbacks on the roster this year, and possibly next year. It could still happen, though. Teams are notoriously skittish about having only young QBs on the roster.
Anyway, for the starting QB position can Trevor be the long-term answer? I don’t know. I hope so, and I’m pulling for him. I think he has improved a bit, and if he gets help from the offensive line and from Jamaal Charles (who looked in way better shape than I expected) and CJ Anderson, I think he might take that step.
I think if everyone is able to stay relatively healthy, this team will probably be in the 9-7 to 11-5 record range. This might be the best division in the league, with the ascendant Raiders and the Chiefs. The Chargers also apparently exist. Well, they try hard.
So, what are your thoughts for your team’s season? Are you looking forward to a playoff run or getting the first pick in the draft?