Evans: Injured Broncos QB Siemian never got ‘benefit of the doubt’

During his first full season as a starter, Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian threw for 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions — nearly a 2-to-1 ratio — in 14 games.

Extrapolate that out to a full 16-game slate, that’s 20.5 touchdowns and 11.4 interceptions, marks arguably equal to or better than playoff quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, Ryan Tannehill, and Brock Osweiler, not to mention 2015 MVP Cam Newton, Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, and Carson Wentz.

Yet, questions persist about if Siemian’s ceiling and if he’s the right man for the Broncos starting job going on while never receiving the “benefit of the doubt” for playing through a severely sprained non-throwing shoulder, “Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mike Evans said Thursday.

“When it comes to Siemian, I don’t think that gets factored into the conversation enough. This is a guy who got seriously hurt in the fourth game of the season and was never right the rest of the season to the point where he required major surgery and his new head coach called the injury horrific,” Evans said.

“And yet, that doesn’t seem to come up a lot when discussing what Siemian is capable of and how to put into context what his first season as a starter was like.”

Denver 7 Broncos Insider Troy Renck, guest hosting with Evans, agreed, saying he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt because “it’s kind of this feeling like he really shouldn’t be here.”

“He feels like a placeholder to a lot of people. And I would argue that 18 touchdowns, 10 picks, had he played 16 games — which he didn’t and durability is a skill in this league — he was going be Alex Smith,” Renck said.

“That’s who they wanted — 22 touchdowns, 10 picks. That’s the guy they wanted. Two-to-one touchdown-pick ratio because they were going to run the football. Oh wait, they didn’t run the football.”

Indeed, Denver didn’t run the ball, at least very effectively, in 2016, ranking 27th in the NFL with 92.8 yards per game and 29th with 3.6 yards per attempt.

“But if they have a running game, how much better could Trevor Siemian be? That’s a fair question,” Renck said. “People ask me, ‘What is Siemian’s ceiling? It’s clearly not Lynch’s ceiling.’ Athletically, I wouldn’t disagree with that. But if Siemian had a running game that made the offense less predictable, what would his ceiling be regarding that?”

It’s not a question that can be answered, though Denver’s offseason moves thus far point to an effort to right the offensive line, and thus the running game, with free agent acquisitions of guard Ron Leary and tackle Menelik Watson.

And general manager John Elway said the club will “fix” the hole at left tackle created by Russell Okung leaving in free agency for the Los Angeles Chargers.

But with new head coach Vance Joseph insisting there’s be a fair quarterback competition between Siemian and 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch, and the lingering prospect of Tony Romo joining the team, there’s no guarantee Siemian will get to play behind a potentially improved offensive line or with an improved running game.

But, as Renck said, that’s nothing unfamiliar to Siemian.

“Siemian’s told me he’s going to have to scratch and claw for everything he gets in this league. He understands that,” Renck said. “He certainly isn’t taken back by the Romo talk or the Lynch talk. All he did is go out and put his head down and go win a job.”

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