It’s time for the Broncos to toss out its QB strategy

This week, Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio named Teddy Bridgewater the starting quarterback. Large portions of Broncos Country had a meltdown over the decision, as they believed Drew Lock had done enough to remain the starting quarterback. Much like the Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch arguments of 2016-‘17, Bridgewater vs. Lock was a very polarizing topic for Broncos fans.

If there is one thing that needs to be the ultimate outcome of this battle of the backups, it’s that this should be the last time the Broncos do this for a very long time. This continual fumbling of the most important position on the team is getting embarrassing.

Since Peyton Manning retired, the Broncos have arrogantly felt they could win with mediocre-at-best quarterback play. This strategy has led to four consecutive losing seasons and the worst run in modern Broncos history.

Every season the Broncos rely on a narrative that they have a good roster, and if they play good defense, they don’t need an elite quarterback. It hasn’t worked, and for some reason they keep running it back. Every season, by midseason, we’re talking about next season. The Broncos are irrelevant.

This upcoming season, the Broncos should be improved from both a competition and record standpoint, but the result will likely be another forgettable season for a franchise with high standards. Except for the quarterback, Denver has a very talented roster. The limitation of the quarterback is what has the Broncos viewed as a fringe playoff team rather than a legitimate contender.

As exciting as this Broncos roster looks (on paper), this version of the team will be one and done.

The Broncos should experience a decent amount of turnover next offseason, with a chunk of starters playing in the final year of their contracts. Regardless of how the Broncos play this season, the long-term viability of this roster is isolated to this season.

That’s why the quarterback situation is such a mess. For any sort of sustained success, the Broncos need a quarterback to provide stability as the rest of the roster changes over every season.

There’s no way to maintain a consistent and competitive team when the quarterback and the roster are both consistently changing.

Next season, the Broncos must have a legitimate quarterback situation. Whether that be Aaron Rodgers or Spencer Rattler (or another rookie quarterback that emerges), there needs to be full commitment to the position.

No more of this “he should be good enough” nonsense.

I did like the way the Broncos were all in on Lock in 2020. He earned the starting job based on his five starts in 2019. The issue became that when the Broncos decided Lock wasn’t their guy (right or wrong), they didn’t fully move on from him. They created this half-way commitment while bringing in a journeyman in Bridgewater. Neither player is in the Broncos long-term plans, which makes the offseason puzzling. Matthew Stafford was available, as well as rookie prospects. The Broncos chose not to go either route, thus kicking the can down the road for one more season.

Instead of improving (Stafford) or creating a quarterback situation for the future (Justin Fields, Mac Jones), new Broncos general manager George Paton decided to play the greatest hits of bad Broncos quarterback decisions. Bridgewater represents Joe Flacco and Case Keenum while Lock represents Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.

The Broncos quarterback strategy has yielded zero success, so let’s hope this is its farewell tour.