The Broncos showed once again that they just don’t get it
Apr 29, 2021, 8:28 PM | Updated: 8:32 pm
The Broncos entered the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft with the ninth-overall pick. That put them in a prime position to select a quarterback. With four or five “can’t-miss” prospects on the board, Denver had the ability to get one if they wanted.
They didn’t.
While other teams made moves before the draft, and others jockeyed for position on Thursday night, the Broncos stood pat. George Paton didn’t make any moves, letting other teams select quarterbacks ahead of Denver and watching the Bears swoop in to take one just two picks after they were on the clock.
Apparently, the general manager is fine with his team’s current situation at the most-important position in sports. Drew Lock is the incumbent, with Teddy Bridgewater as the veteran presence. They’ll battle it out in training camp for the starting job, with a potential later-round pick adding depth in the room.
“Lock and Bridgewater” sounds like a bad ’80s cop show. It’s certainly not a reliable duo of signal callers.
That should worry Broncos Country. It doesn’t take a history major to understand that this setup probably won’t translate into a winning season.
In the NFL, marginal quarterbacks just don’t win. At least in a grand way. And not on a consistent basis.
Just look at the final four teams in 2020 for an example. The AFC Championship Game featured Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The NFL title tilt was a matchup between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
In modern football, it’s about the quarterback. The Broncos should know this better than anyone.
They have a good roster. Heck, Pro Football Focus ranks it as the sixth-best in the league. But last year, with largely the same group, Denver finished 5-11.
That marked their fourth-straight losing season, the longest stretch for the franchise in five decades. Not coincidentally, the Broncos have been looking for a quarterback that entire time.
In the seasons since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset with a Lombardi Trophy in hand, Denver is 32-48. They’ve lost more than 10 games three times during that span.
For even more evidence, look at the five years before The Sheriff rolled into town. During that stretch, the Broncos were 35-45. They bottomed out at 4-12, the most single-season losses in the history of the franchise.
So in the last 10 years without Manning at quarterback, the Broncos are 67-93. They’ve made the playoffs once (8-8 in 2011 with Tim Tebow). They’ve finished above .500 once (9-7 with Trevor Siemian in 2016).
When they had an elite quarterback for four years, Denver went 50-14, won four AFC West titles, went to two Super Bowls and won a championship. Could it be any clearer?
Yet, the Broncos keep trying to win with QBs who are marginal players, at best. They roll out Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Lock and now, perhaps, Bridgewater. It’s like they think it’s 1974 and defense wins championships.
That’s a nice cliché. It’s fun for coaches to say. But it’s not true.
Yes, the Buccaneers defense played great in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs. But most of those players were on the roster the year before, when Tampa Bay finished 7-9. Everyone know that the difference was the upgrade at quarterback – from Jameis Winston to Brady.
NFL execs seem to understand this, except those in the Broncos front office. It’s stunning, especially considering they’ve enjoyed the fruits of having John Elway and Manning on the roster for 20 combined seasons, a QB duo that led the franchise to seven Super Bowl appearances and three Lombardi Trophies.
Meanwhile, the rest of the league certainly gets it. This offseason has been a sign of that fact.
Sean McVay went to a Super Bowl with Jared Goff as his quarterback. He gave up a haul, however, to upgrade to Matthew Stafford.
Kyle Shanahan was one play away from winning a title with Jimmy Garoppolo at QB. He mortgaged the future to draft Trey Lance, though.
And Bill Belichick suffered through one season without a big-time quarterback. He gleefully picked Mac Jones in round one last night.
The smartest people in football know one this is true: A team can’t win big without a big-time quarterback.
Yet, the Broncos keep trying to do it. They almost seem insistent on it.
In three of the past four years, Denver has had a top-10 pick – yet another sign that their approach isn’t working. Somehow, however, they’ve managed to not come away with a quarterback.
They’ve passed on Allen and Lamar Jackson. They’ve said “no thank you” to Fields and Jones. And the losses keep piling up.
If a team doesn’t have a marquee quarterback, they have to keep swinging until they finally hit on one. It’s not that hard to figure it out.
Except for the Broncos brass.
Not giving up multiple picks to move up for a quarterback is understandable. Not taking one when he falls into your lap is inexcusable.
George Paton had a chance to change the course of the Broncos franchise on Thursday night. Instead, he drafted a cornerback who will start the season fourth on the depth chart.
Patrick Surtain II is a fine player. But fine players don’t make teams a championship contenders.
Quarterbacks do. And until the Broncos figure that out, they’ll continue to be a cellar-dwelling, bottom-feeding, irrelevant-to-the-rest-of-the-country franchise.
