DENVER — As you watched Peyton Manning intensely coach the AFC in the Pro Bowl flag football game Sunday – and the ratings will show you probably did peek in for at least a portion of the silly affair – it was a reminder of how far the Denver Broncos have fallen without him.
Not only as a team but at the quarterback position. The two do seem intrinsically linked at the NFL level.
In the eight seasons since Manning retired after Super Bowl 50 to cap 2015, the Broncos have given 12 quarterbacks a chance to start, 13 if you include the COVID-forced Phillip Lindsay/Kendall Hinton emergency for a 2020 game against Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints.
The best of the Manning successor bunch was either Trevor Siemian in 2016, Teddy Bridgewater in 2021 or Russell Wilson in 2023. The Broncos average record over the past eight years is 6.5-10.
It’s been a struggle.
Here’s how Broncos’ quarterbacks have fared since 2015 in order of passer rating:
- Quarterback ………... W-L … TD … INT … RTG
- Teddy Bridgewater … 7-7 … 18 .....… 7 .… 94.9
- Russell Wilson …… 11-19 … 42 ..... 19 .... 90.9
- Jarrett Stidham ……..… 1-1 ..… 2 .....… 1 .… 87.7
- Joe Flacco ……...………… 2-6 ..… 6 .....… 5 .… 85.1
- Case Keenum ………... 6-10 ... 18 ..... 15 .... 81.2
- Trevor Siemian ..…… 13-11 ... 30 .... 24 .… 79.9
- Drew Lock …………..…. 8-13 ... 25 .... 20 ..... 79.3
- Jeff Driskel …………..…… 0-1 ...… 3 ...… 2 ..… 78.4
- Paxton Lynch …….……. 1-3 ....… 2 ...… 3 ..… 76.7
- Brock Osweiler ….……. 0-4 ....… 5 ...… 5 ….. 72.5*
- Brandon Allen …...….… 1-2 ...… 3 ....… 2 ..… 68.3
- Brett Rypien ………….… 2-1 ...… 4 ....… 8 ..… 62.8
- Lindsay/Hinton ……..… 0-1 ...… 0 ....… 2 …..... 0.0**
- 8-season totals …… 52-79 . 158 . 113
*Osweiler’s numbers after 2015. He was 5-2 with 11 TDs and 6 INTs in his first stint
**Lindsay, a running back, started the game as a Wildcat QB but didn’t pass. Hinton was assigned the QB position against New Orleans and did all the passing (1 of 9, 0 TD, 2 INT).
Not listed was general manager John Elway’s first choice to replace Manning: Colin Kaepernick. The parameters for a trade with San Francisco was in place during the 2016 offseason but Kaepernick and Elway could not agree on a contract.
Elway, and then his general manager replacement George Paton, have tried everything – including a flirtation in both 2021 and 2022 with then-Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Paxton Lynch and Drew Lock were drafted to become franchise quarterbacks while Keenum, Flacco and Bridgewaters were understood to be stopgaps. Wilson, acquired in a blockbuster trade with Seattle, was a be-all, end-all that apparently is about to end by March 17 after two seasons.
For 2024, the Broncos have Stidham and Ben DiNucci on their roster with at least one more coming from either free agency, trade or the draft.
Meanwhile, Super Bowl LVIII that will be played Sunday in Las Vegas will pit quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, whom Kansas City traded up 17 slots to select No. 10 in the 2017 draft, and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, the No. 262, and final, pick in the 2022 draft.
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