Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak announced to the team Monday that Trevor Siemian has won the starting quarterback job for now, at least.
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Kubiak informed Siemian, Sanchez and Paxton Lynch of his decision prior to sharing it with the entire team.
It was somewhat of a tough night to evaluate Siemian early on, as the Broncos opted for six straight runs to open the game with no first downs.
First preseason game back and Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib got a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty for his late and forceful hit on Case Keenum as the Rams’ quarterback had a step into the sidelines.
The Rams, in their first two preseason games, had scored sevej touchdowns in seven red-zone entries, but against the Broncos, they had three field goals in three attempts, and also turned the ball over on downs at the Denver 27 in the third quarter.
As PhillyVoice first reported back in June, there were three different scenarios for the compensation the Philadelphia Eagles would receive in the trade that sent Mark Sanchez to the Denver Broncos.
Siemian passed for 122 yards (a 7.2-yard average) and a touchdown to tight end Virgil Green from a yard out in the Broncos’ 17-9 preseason win Saturday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Perhaps just as impressive is that he’s the first Northwestern quarterback to start an opener since the legendary Otto Graham in 1955. It will come down to this final preseason game as to which player will see his name on the starting spot, but I believe that Ty Sambrailo will be the eventual option and starting going forward for the Broncos. “I want the coaches to look at the film and say ‘I need that guy on my football team'”. If everything goes wrong, and Siemian is bad and Lynch isn’t close to being ready, both GM John Elway and Gary Kubiak have left themselves vulnerable to vast criticism.
Following Denver’s victory, Kubiak sounded pleased with Siemian’s progression-even if he stopped short of stating the now-obvious.
Ronnie Hillman’s touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Broncos the lead and allowed Wade Phillips to turn the dogs loose on the defensive end. Lynch, the 2016 first-round pick out of Memphis, played the second half as Siemian’s backup, while Sanchez, the once-fancied fifth overall pick of the 2009 draft, did not see any action.
Throughout most of the offseason, it has felt like Sanchez’s experience, both in the National Football League and the postseason, would make him a smart option to lead the offense until Lynch was ready. “God’s got me this far so I’m putting everything in his hands and we don’t have control over anything, anyway”.
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Right now the Broncos have a tough decision at right guard, and will find it very hard to make a decision between Ty Sambrailo and Michael Shoefield. “I’ve had a chance to see a couple of defenses now, so I’m not so surprised by what’s going on, but we moved the ball a little bit”. Kubiak had said following the game he would make a decision this week on a starter. We said it’s going to be a process and take time for Jared.
