Polumbus: Now what at QB for the Broncos?

Conventional wisdom tells us that most undefeated football teams that have a starting quarterback get hurt during the fourth game of the season would not have any sort of drama regarding who starts when both are healthy.

Perhaps there will be no drama inside the building at Dove Valley regarding who should start when Trevor Siemian returns healthy. But externally, Denver Broncos fans will be wondering whom the guy should be after Paxton Lynch put on an impressive performance filling in for the injured Siemian on Sunday in Tampa Bay.

Siemian has done nothing but impress during his three and a half games he has played this season. He has made doubters quite down, and he has given his supporters a louder voice.

He is 68 for 101 passing this season with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Also, I don’t think any of his interceptions came from a bad decision but rather from poor execution.

These numbers are certainly not the type to typically warrant a discussion of if Siemian should be the quarterback of the future.

However, when a team drafts a quarterback in the first round, as the Broncos did with Lynch, and he has an impressive performance in his first game, the traditional approach regarding how to handle the decision gets thrown out the window.

Lynch entered last week’s game against Tampa Bay without an NFL snap under his belt. He finished the game with 14 completions in 24 attempts and one touchdown. His performance was effective and impressive for a guy in his first action of his career.

And Lynch operated out of the more familiar shotgun formation more than Siemain usually does, but I was impressed by how clean his footwork and delivery looked on his pass attempts from under center.

His performance has drawn rave reviews from many, but was it enough to unseat a starter that has done nothing but lead his team to an undefeated record?

Despite the fact that Lynch demonstrated franchise quarterback-type traits during his performance (he was fearless, his deep balls were thrown with ease, the game plan wasn’t dumbed down for him, he threaded the needle between defenders on his passes, and the run game was more effective with him at the helm), I will be shocked if head coach Gary Kubiak makes a switch from Siemian.

The old adage has always been that you can’t lose your job to injury, but from my experience that philosophy has an expiration date. If Siemian comes back this week and plays well, I expect this controversy to disappear. However, if he can’t play and Lynch has another standout game, I believe all options will be available, and Kubiak will go with the hot hand moving forward.

This is why players always seem to find a way to “get healthy” when a young challenger has an opportunity to unseat them. Siemian will do everything in his power to get on the field this week.

If he plays well, he might just hold off the young gun. If he can’t play, at no fault of his own, we will have a real quarterback controversy on our hands.

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