KUSA—Brock to the Future.
Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph informed his players at their team meeting this morning that Brock Osweiler will replace Trevor Siemian as their starting quarterback. 9News was the first to report of the quarterback switch.
Bronco players were off Tuesday, but Joseph had Siemian and Osweiler come in to team headquarters at UCHealth Training Center at about 7 Tuesday night to inform them in person of his decision.
For Siemian, a string of turnovers inside a three-game losing streak caused the first demotion of his professional career. He accounted for seven (six interceptions, one fumble) of the team’s 11 turnovers during the skid.
Osweiler won’t be asked to necessarily win games, starting with Sunday against the 7-1 Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, so much as he will be tasked with not losing them.
He knows how to manage a game. He was 5-2 for the Broncos in relief of the injured Peyton Manning to finish the 2015 regular season, which ended with a Super Bowl 50 title.
Osweiler then accepted a four-year, $72 million contract with the Houston Texans as a free agent. Although he struggled statistically last season, Osweiler posted an 8-6 record, then won a first-round playoff game.
He was traded after the season to Cleveland in exchange for a second-round draft pick. He is making $16 million this season with the Browns paying $15.225 million and the Broncos picking up the other $775,000.
Difficult as the decision is to Siemian, he has no reason to hang his head. A seventh-round draft pick, No. 250 overall, out of Northwestern in 2015, Siemian has already exceeded expectations by, first, making a 53-man roster; second, beating out veteran Mark Sanchez last year and first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch in back-to-back quarterback competitions to become the Broncos’ season-opening quarterback in 2016-17; and third, post a 10-6 record through his first 16 starts.
He threw for 3,401 yards and 18 touchdowns against 10 interceptions last season in posting an 8-6 record.
Through week 2 this season, Siemian was a top 5 NFL quarterback as he threw for 450 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions in leading the Broncos to an impressive 2-0 start.
But since then Siemian has thrown just three touchdowns against eight interceptions as the Broncos went 1-4. The low point came October 22 in Carson, Calif., where the Broncos suffered their first shutout in nearly 25 years by losing to the Los Angeles Chargers, 21-0.
Siemian played better Monday night at Kansas City, but three interceptions, and a 29-19 loss despite a fine effort by Denver’s defense that now leads the NFL with 261.0 yards allowed per game caused Joseph and general manager John Elway to make a quarterback change.
Siemian will remain the Broncos' No. 2 quarterback as Lynch has had minimal practice time since returning last week from a two-month shoulder injury.
