Clayton: The Broncos face a Giants team at a familiar QB crossroads
Sep 10, 2021, 3:28 PM
It’s fitting that the Broncos open the season against the Giants.
The Giants are in a similar position the Broncos were in last year. They have Daniel Jones at quarterback. It’s a big year for the third-year player.
Last year, the Broncos were in a judgement year with quarterback Drew Lock. Lock needed to prove he was the franchise quarterback. Unfortunately for the Broncos, he had one of the worst seasons in the NFL. Lock was the lowest-rated starting quarterback and he had 15 interceptions, tied for the most in the league.
Clearly, the Broncos were going to do something at quarterback. General manager George Paton still thought there was great talent in Lock, but he need to do something or the Broncos would be heading toward another losing season.
Paton elected not to totally replace Lock. Otherwise, he could have taken Justin Fields. Instead, he acquired Teddy Bridgewater to challenge him. Bridgewater won the starting job.
In the case of Jones, if he doesn’t improve and start to get the Giants over .500, something similar will happen to him next season. Vic Fangio did talk about Jones on Thursday.
“I think the guy has good talent and he’s getting more and more comfortable with the new offense,” Fangio said. “He suffered through what a lot of teams that had changes to their coaching staff suffered through, whether it’s the entire staff or the offensive staff, losing the offseason last year and the limited training camp. His talent is very visible and his control of the offense is very viable.”
Fangio noted Jones played in only one preseason game. Now, he has to try to succeed against the league’s best secondary.
