Clough: Siemian a ‘substantial upgrade’ over 2015 Manning

It seems one of the Denver Broncos biggest question marks heading into the 2016 season — the quarterback position — has actually turned out to be among the team’s few offensive bright spots.

Heading into training camp, the general consensus had veteran Mark Sanchez under center in relief for the recently retired Peyton Manning and a combination second-year pro Trevor Siemian and rookie first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch at backup.

Now, as the Broncos head into Week 15 within grasp of another trip to the AFC playoffs, it’s Siemian at the helm and Sanchez in Dallas, with the former, according to Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough, outplaying the Manning of 2015.

“If you don’t think Trevor Siemian is a substantial upgrade over that Peyton Manning, you’re watching a different season than the one I’m watching,” Clough said Tuesday.

Statistically, Siemian, with 11 games under his belt, trumps Manning (who played in just 10 regular season games in 2015) across the board in most passing categories, including completion percentage (61.17 to 59.82), passer rating (89.7 to 67.9), and adjusted yards per attempt (7.27 to 5.03).

And with fingers pointing a number of different directions in regard to the Broncos offensive woes this season, Siemian is the least of Denver’s problems, Clough said.

“The quarterback position, even throw Lynch into it, that’s the least of their problems,” Clough said. “They’re banged up at running back. The wide receiving production beyond (Demaryius) Thomas and (Emmanuel) Sanders has been virtually non-existent. Until (A.J.) Derby came along, they weren’t even looking at the tight ends. The offensive line is atrocious, worse than it was last year, as a group”

However, Manning earned 8 wins in his 10 games and helped the Broncos to a fifth-straight AFC West title, a No. 1 playoff seed and a Super Bowl 50 victory.

The division crown seems out of reach, along with the top AFC seed, but whether Siemian can lead the Broncos on a deep playoff run remains to be seen.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.