Now he’s tasked with leading the defending Super Bowl champions in the post-Peyton Manning era.
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Denver picked Siemian in the 7th round in the 2015 draft, and he appeared in just one game past year, where he didn’t throw a pass and ran just once for a loss of a yard. He was also intercepted once when it wasn’t really his fault but had another interception dropped. He finished the preseason with a passer rating of just 70.4 – the lowest of any Broncos quarterback – but demonstrated to Kubiak an ability to quickly learn from mistakes and rally his teammates. Lynch took reps with the first-team offense on the scout team in practices this past week, but had been limited to play with primarily the third-string offense in the Broncos’ first two preseason games.
Quarterback Trevor Siemian, trying to solidify his hold on the starting job, completed 10 of 17 passes for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception that came off a deflection. Denver traded for him in March.
Fantasy impact: It’s been quite the ride for Siemian, who was an afterthought last season as a seventh-round pick out of Northwestern.
If the Broncos cur Mark Sanchez they can save some money and get their draft pick back from the Eagles.
Siemian started his second straight game of the preseason on Saturday, and actually didn’t look that bad.
Although the market for an affordable veteran quarterback is thin, the Broncos would have $3.5 million to play with in finding one – should they want a third quarterback on the roster. Kubiak explained it by saying he’d seen enough of Sanchez and had “enough to go on Mark”.
A month after acquiring Sanchez, the Broncos got a sixth-round draft pick from the New York Jets in exchange for left tackle Ryan Clady.
It didn’t work out that way.
Tight end Virgil Green caught a 1-yard scoring pass from Siemian and Brandon McManus kicked a 50-yard field goal just before halftime.
That gave the Broncos a 7-6 lead with 4 minutes remaining in the half.
It remains to be seen how long Siemian’s leash will be. The series carried over into the second quarter but ended at seven plays and 19 yards, after an Anderson carry on fourth down fell short of a first down.
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Starting back-to-back exhibition games, Siemian showed off a powerful arm, precise throws, patience in the pocket and poise in the huddle. On consecutive passes, Siemian hit first Thomas and then Sanders for first downs.
