Denver Broncos to Hold Private Workouts With Quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker
In an extremely interesting move, the Denver Broncos are holding private workouts with quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert of Missouri and Washington’s Jake Locker. These moves are particularly interesting because it says one of two things about the Broncos.
- They are trying to put on a big front and trade down
- They are legitimately interested in drafting a quarterback
The leverage the Broncos have over other teams right now is that they are simply keeping them guessing. Now, even though the Broncos have traded for Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn and drafted Tim Tebow over the last two years, teams are thinking, “Are they serious right now?”
As someone who has been a Broncos fan for years and has been following the team more closely than ever over the last few years, I can say that drafting a quarterback would be the worst thing the new regime could do to get started. What motivation does Denver have to take a quarterback?
Before the NFL Draft, it’s important to do your due diligence as a front office, but this one is a head scratcher for sure. The Broncos–like every other team–have only 30 private workouts to use before the draft, so using two of them on quarterbacks is very questionable unless they are really posturing themselves for a trade down.
What I can say is that I believe selecting a quarterback with the second overall pick would set the Denver Broncos back another 5-7 years. It is not the right move for this team, and the quarterbacks at the top–or bottom–of this draft are nowhere near the caliber of what Tebow, McCoy, and Bradford were last year.
Still, the fact that the Broncos are even flirting with the idea of drafting a quarterback is very troubling to Broncos fans. While Blaine Gabbert has a lot of good qualities as a prospect, the least of the Broncos’ concerns should be at quarterback. There are not many positions on that team that you can legitimately say that about, but QB is definitely one of them.
Kyle Orton has proven to be a capable starting quarterback in the league, Brady Quinn has shown flashes in his career and is a solid backup, and Tim Tebow showed at the end of last year that he has star potential. If the Broncos’ new management cannot see that, then I definitely do not trust their judgment in quarterbacks at all. I know that’s a strong statement considering John Elway has been a Hall of Fame quarterback with Super Bowl credentials, and John Fox has taken Jake Delhomme from NFL Europe star to a Super Bowl, but are we being serious here?
I could name off ten more pressing needs for the Broncos than quarterback, and maybe more. If the Broncos are not doing this for posturing, their new regime is going to lose the fan base at a rapid rate. Winning sells tickets, not having the highest priced group of quarterbacks in the NFL.
The Broncos saw a glimpse of the future in Tim Tebow, and “EFX” (Elway-Fox-Xanders) intend on going with “their guy” it could turn out to be another couple of years of pandemonium in Denver. The Broncos had better choose wisely come April. They have never had this high of a pick in my lifetime, and if they use it on a quarterback when they have three guys on the roster who have both started and/or been first round draft choices, then there will be rioting.
GM Brian Xanders has indicated that the team will focus on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, and Broncos fans all hope that is the direction they take.