Denver Broncos Seeking Alternative to 1st Round Quarterback

John Elway deserves all the credit in the world for making the Denver Broncos champions again in 2015. That said he’s got a big problem.

That success came primarily because he got lucky. The Indianapolis Colts parted ways with Peyton Manning and he was able to lure in one of the best quarterbacks of all time as a free agent. That instantly solved the Broncos’ biggest problem. Now Manning is gone and the problem has returned. Thus far Elway has done a poor job fixing it. Things are becoming clearer by the day that for all his knowledge of the position, Elway has a hard time drafting it.

Since 2011 when he took over primary control of the front office, Elway has drafted five quarterbacks to the Broncos roster. None of them have panned out as hoped. This includes a 2nd round choice in 2012 (Brock Osweiler) and a 1st round pick in 2016 (Paxton Lynch). Admittedly the loss of head coach Gary Kubiak likely threw a wrench into those plans but it doesn’t erase the facts. The draft just hasn’t worked for Elway at solving the QB issue.

So perhaps it might be time for him to go back to the well that did wonders for him six years ago.

Elway and Broncos may have eyes for resurgent Case Keenum

The 2018 free agency period coming up could be a unique one in NFL history. Never before have so many intriguing upper echelon quarterbacks come out of contract at the same time. All of them with no clear guarantee they’ll stick on their current teams. This could present the Broncos with options towards solving their problem with a veteran, just like they did with Manning years ago. According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, there is one name that is gaining steam.

"“Free agents Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum will have a major impact on the top six picks in the draft. If Cousins signs with the Denver Broncos or New York Jets, they wouldn’t be likely to draft a quarterback early. But what if Keenum signs with the Broncos—would they still draft a quarterback at No. 5 overall? In talking to a Broncos front office member this week, I learned the team likes Keenum, and signing him would allow Denver to go elsewhere in Round 1.”"

Keenum is coming off the best season of his NFL career. After years of hovering between backup and spot starter, he was thrust into the spotlight when Sam Bradford injured his knee early in the season. Together with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Keen put up 22 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions. His efforts landed Minnesota in the NFC championship game. He also turns just 30-years old on February 17th.

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So essentially they’d be getting a quarterback who’s still fairly young coming off his best season. There is some risk involved since Keenum didn’t have that success until he was paired with Shurmur. That connection won’t be available to him in Denver. Still, the Broncos would at least buy themselves some time to build the roster back up. It’s not an ideal solution, but there are worse ones.