Denver Broncos: QB Trevor Siemian has defied the odds

The Denver Broncos named Trevor Siemian their starting quarterback to open the season, and Siemian has certainly overcome plenty of odds to get here…

It doesn’t seem like anything phases Denver Broncos starting quarterback Trevor Siemian, and that’s probably a major reason why he is where he is today.

Siemian is a former seventh round draft pick out of Northwestern who was barely on anyone’s pre-draft radar until it was reported that he had lined up a couple of visits with teams in April of 2015.

He wasn’t the ‘star’ at Northwestern. In fact, Siemian was splitting reps with then quarterback Kain Coulter, who became a wide receiver when he attempted to make it in the NFL. Coulter provided the Northwestern offense with a dynamic dual-threat at the position, much more fitting for the type of offense that they were running at the time but Siemian was obviously the more traditional quarterback.

Deceptively athletic, Siemian could run the Northwestern offense well but he wasn’t as quick or fast as Coulter, obviously, and thus, split a lot of time. His passing numbers as a member of the Wildcats weren’t great, and that has been overblown by national media now who have ignored the fact that Northwestern receivers couldn’t catch a cold when Siemian was throwing passes.

Dropped passes and a lack of ideal offensive scheme fit were the least of Siemian’s problems in retrospect, as he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in November of his senior year at Northwestern. It was such a devastating blow, Siemian had started preparing himself for life after football, different career options, though he didn’t obviously give up.

The skill set was clearly there. Anyone with an objective eye could look at Siemian’s college tape and see that he has a live arm, makes good decisions, doesn’t get rattled, and is also pretty athletic for a more traditional passer.

There were definitely tools to work with, but the lack of production, starts, and the injury were only the beginning for Siemian.

The Broncos liked him enough to send their big time brass to meet him for a pre-draft dinner, and he became the first quarterback hand-picked by both John Elway and Gary Kubiak together as a brain trust.

That fact is often overlooked.

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Of course, it was only a seventh round pick, but Elway and Kubiak saw qualities in Siemian that led them to drafting him, and ultimately adding him to the 53-man roster at the start of the season along with fellow quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler.

Siemian wasn’t simply given a third QB spot with the Broncos, either. He took the job from another former seventh round pick in Zac Dysert, a favorite of Draft Twitter and someone that Broncos fans were split on. Siemian’s pre-season play earned him the job and he spent the entire season learning behind Manning and Osweiler, even taking a knee during the Broncos’ last regular or postseason loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Entering the 2016 offseason, the Broncos seemingly tried everything they could to bring in someone who could at least beat out Siemian for the job. They looked into every free agent and trade opportunity before settling on Mark Sanchez and first round pick Paxton Lynch as Siemian’s main form of competition, and Siemian flat out won the competition.

Some might say Mark Sanchez lost, and there’s some truth to that, but over the course of the whole offseason, Siemian was just better. Sure, he’s made mistakes, but he is also just a second-year player who is learning the ropes.

Broncos coaches have long lauded Siemian’s knowledge of the offense and his ability to command the huddle, and like we saw at Northwestern, there is a very cool demeanor in success or failure on the field for Siemian. He just doesn’t get emotionally phased by anything.

He has defied the odds on his way to being the Broncos’ starting quarterback, regardless of whether anyone feels he has earned it at this point.

Now, the guy who was an afterthought in the Big Ten and splitting reps at Northwestern is the starting quarterback of the defending Super Bowl champions.

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