DENVER _ Was everyone on Team Paxton wearing solar eclipse sunglasses while watching the Broncos quarterback competition?
"In a year or two he might be able to take over the reins," coach Vance Joseph said of Lynch on Monday after announcing Team Siemian had won the day _ and the starting quarterback gig in Week 1 and beyond. "But right now he's not."
They won't, for many respectable reasons, but the Broncos should look to trade Paxton Lynch. Give the Jacksonville Jaguars a call. Have you seen their quarterback situation? See if the Florida native piques their interest. Lynch is still 6-foot-7, only 23 years old, passes the eyeball test, a swell guy, all that.
But when the orange jury ruled _ "It was our decision. It wasn't solely mine," Joseph said with emphasis _ the choice to anoint Trevor Siemian, 25, as the starter was a "clear" one. It wasn't close. Siemian won the job twice, over two coaching staffs and in two offenses, almost everything working against him.
"Watching the reactions in the room, it wasn't a lot of surprise," Joseph said of his Monday address to the team. "It was, 'OK, Trevor's the guy. We're going to support Trevor and Paxton and move forward."
This space today should be devoted to Siemian, a seventh-round draft pick who, after a nasty knee injury in college, considered giving up football for a career in commercial real estate and now is writing Chapter 2 of one of the most interesting, improbable stories this franchise has witnessed.
He. Won't. Go. Away. There's something to be said for valuing consistency over flash.
But there are four months ahead in which to grade Siemian _ five, if he plays well _ so now's as good a time as any to talk Lynch. The thinking has gone that John Elway would make certain his first-round pick would see the field, no matter what. The problem with that logic is that Elway's the kind of businessman who asks Peyton Manning to take a paycut. He does play favorites, but his favorite is the Broncos. Siemian is their best chance to win.
"It's a permanent decision," Joseph said.
It makes sense why they won't trade Lynch, or even look to. His stock is too low right now to get decent value in return. Plus, Siemian's injury history at Northwestern and in Denver suggests he will get hurt at some point. For this season, I'll set the over-under on Lynch games played at 2.5.
"What's holding him back is experience," Joseph said. "It's tough to play quarterback in this league. It's not simply about how tall you are and how fast you run. It's different factors that go into being an NFL quarterback."
The most worrisome piece to the Lynch saga is how the Broncos last year had to trim the playbook to accommodate the young quarterback _ in Week 13. It's why I wrote, even before the preseason games, the Broncos should get on with it and name Siemian the starter. So far Lynch has been Tim Tebow without the leadership qualities that Von Miller still talks about six years later. Why do you think big-bucks wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas said weeks ago the Broncos should name the starter sooner rather than later? They knew who would win the job. The gap has been as clear as Colorado's sky.
I have no clue if Siemian is capable of leading the Broncos to a Super Bowl. I think he was better last season than he was given credit for _ dropped passes in the Tennessee and Kansas City games shy of an 11-win season, all that _ and if you play the hidden jersey game and put Lynch's name alongside Siemian's stats (18 touchdowns, 11 picks) then Broncos Country would be stoked about its young quarterback. But whether Siemian is the quarterback of the future wasn't the question here. The question was which quarterback _ Siemian or Lynch _ would be best for this version of the Broncos.
Get ready, Ol' Trev. When you aren't the media's pick, they will come after you with pens blazing. That's a weird thing about the NFL. Guy wins a starting quarterback job _ for a franchise that brought you John Elway and Peyton Manning _ and gets creamed. Money's sweet, though.
Siemian won the job for how he performed, but also how a proud, volatile locker room trusts him. Aqib Talib, who recognizes real, refers to him only as "Trev." Miller and DeMarcus Ware, among others, took him to a Nuggets game last year. They saw him play through injury after injury without complaint, an issue only because there was injury after injury. But that stuff matters.
"Paxton's physical traits, they're fun to watch," Joseph said. "For a coach to have a 6-foot-5 guy who can run zone read and scramble, that's exciting for us. So it was close."
There was another impressive, eye-popping athlete who played quarterback here. First-rounder, too. Tebow isn't here anymore.
