Clough: Broncos drafting Lynch a bigger mistake than letting Phillips walk
Feb 9, 2019, 12:53 PM | Updated: Feb 11, 2019, 8:06 am
Following a performance in which the Los Angeles Rams stifled Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a losing effort in Super Bowl LIII, “Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth said the biggest of the recent mistakes by the Denver Broncos was letting go of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
The Phillips-led Rams held the Patriots to just 13 points, the lowest point total in a Super Bowl during the Brady-Belichick era, and Brady had the worst Super Bowl of his career — throwing for just 262 yards on 21-of-35 passing with no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 71.4.
“Wade Phillips is one of the most quality coaches and quality individuals and quality human beings in football. And the fact that he is now coaching for the Los Angeles Rams is probably the biggest mistake the Broncos have made in all the mistakes that they have made in recent years,” Schlereth said.
On Friday, however, Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough said that while it was a “mistake” to let Phillips walk after the 2016 season, “even more so than firing Wade Phillips, the biggest mistake was drafting Paxton Lynch.”
“That is a mistake that resounds and amplifies over the next three years, four years, five years,” Clough said.
Clough said the Broncos are still in a quarterback conundrum, which they’ve been in since the departure of Peyton Manning ahead of the 2016 season, because they took a “first-round flier” on Lynch.
“Other than Jerry Jones, nobody thought Paxton Lynch was anything close to being a first-round draft pick, and I mean nobody,” Clough said.
Lynch, in two years in Denver, started just four games for the Broncos, going 1-3. In five total games, he threw for 792 yards on 79-of-128 passing for four touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 76.7.
The Broncos released Lynch after the 2018 preseason, and until just recently, when the Seattle Seahawks signed him in mid-January, the former first-rounder had gone without a job in the NFL.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
