The Denver Broncos haven’t called the quarterback position wide-open for next season, but all of their actions point to a a wide-open competition for who sits under center.
Mmmm. Gratuitous cheerleader shot.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels gave his quarterback Kyle Orton a vote of confidence at the end of last season saying, “I’m pleased with a lot of what Kyle did and I saw improvement in what he did. I was happy to have the opportunity to work with him this year and we’ll look forward to the future.”
Now with the trade for Brady Quinn the Broncos have two young quarterbacks both of whom under-performed to start their careers.
Orton started to improve under McDaniels tutelage and Quinn, who has more potential than Orton, hopes to do the same and thrive with the Broncos.
While Orton has improved, he still hasn’t proved himself to be an NFL quarterback. The Broncos started the season 6-2, but finished 2-6, so Quinn is almost certain to get some chances if he isn’t able to wrest the job outright.
Delhomme, Leader or Aging Veteran?
The Cleveland Browns signed Jake Delhomme to be a leader who can take charge of the team.
Mike Holmgren said, “They need a guy that is going to grab everybody by the throat and say, ‘Follow me through that door.’ I don’t look at him as an aging veteran, I look at him as the leader I wanted.”
With Delhomme’s declining production he’s going to have a hard time getting the attention of the locker room. Leaders have to earn respect and it remains to be seen whether the Browns personnel respect Delhomme’s past achievements over his current performance.
Clausen is Sexy, but Wrong Choice for Washington
The Washington Redskins are said to be pondering Fighting Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen as their number four pick, but that would be a big mistake.
The other player they are rumored to be considering is Oklahoma State left tackle Russell Okung.
While a left tackle isn’t nearly as sexy a pick as a quarterback, developing a quarterback behind a weak o-line can ruin a prospect as they have significantly less margin of error.
Okung has what it takes to make the Redskins o-line solid so that when next year’s quarterback-heavy draft comes around, the Redskins will have everything in place to give their new quarterback the best chance to succeed.
