The Denver Broncos won’t know who their starting quarterback will be until late in the preseason, if head coach Vance Joseph gets his wish anyway.
Speaking with media on Monday, the coach made it crystal clear there will be an open competition for the job.
Vance Joseph is on Broncos' QB competition: "It's open, guys. Fifty-fifty. It's open and it'll go down to the wire, I hope."
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) April 10, 2017
Joseph also made it clear the structure of the offense won’t change, regardless of who ends up behind center, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post.
Denver likely hopes second-year quarterback Paxton Lynch — last year’s first-round pick — will beat out Trevor Siemian for the starting job. It’s something general manager John Elway has hinted at in the past, and the team did trade up to acquire the Memphis product, who was also being pursued by other teams including the Dallas Cowboys.
Neither quarterback inspired a ton of confidence during the Broncos’ 2016 campaign, though Siemian was, by far, more prepared to face NFL defenses. It’s going to be interesting to see how this quarterback competition develops as the summer moves into the fall and a decision must be made ahead of the 2017 season.
If Denver gets good quarterback play, then there is no reason to believe the Broncos won’t be contending deep in the playoffs thanks to their outstanding defense.