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Peyton Manning is arguably the greatest NFL QB of all time and has decided to hang up his cleats after 18 years in the league. This was expected to happen since his last game was a victory in Super Bowl 50 for his second championship ring. Brock Osweiler, the QB many thought would take over for Manning, ended up signing with the Houston Texans. This left the Denver Broncos with a huge hole at the position. They recently traded for Mark Sanchez, but he is far from being a long-term solution and neither is Trevor Siemian. Therefore, it would behoove John Elway and head coach Gary Kubiak to strongly consider taking their QB of the future with their first draft pick. Carson Wentz and Jared Goff should be off the board long before Denver gets to select at No. 31. This means that they should aim their cross-hairs at the next best option in Paxton Lynch from Memphis.
Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 244 pounds, Lynch has outstanding size for his position. He is tall and lanky, but has room to add size to his lean frame without it hindering his mobility. Speaking of mobility, Lynch is very light on his feet and possesses good body control to shift in the pocket when facing defensive pressure. His slide and shuffle technique in the pocket buys him time and allows him to quickly adjust his throwing platform whenever it’s necessary. Lynch is also a very accurate passer while on the move and can fire quick strikes to his targets. His eyes scan the whole field quickly in order to find the right receiver, and he’s shown an increased ability to stay calm in a collapsing pocket. Several coaches and scouts have praised Lynch’s ability to rapidly adjust to changes as well as his exceptional football IQ.
Even though Lynch sounds like he could be the perfect QB, he is far from it. One of his major deficiencies is his inconsistency when it comes to throwing from a balanced foundation. This leads to his accuracy being negatively affected on downfield passes. Additionally, he has shown a tendency to rely on his arm strength and athleticism rather than fundamentals. Therefore, his throwing technique is one that will need some maintenance, and it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t emphasized more by his college coaches. Lynch also has a tendency to take more sacks than he should, so coaches will need to work on his internal clock a bit.
Despite an underwhelming performance in a loss to Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl and a mediocre showing at the scouting combine, Lynch still has as much upside as any QB in this year’s draft. Teams will exercise a bit of recent bias when it comes to considering him on draft day which should lead to him falling down a few spots. This would work out perfectly for the Broncos, as Lynch has already been identified as a perfect fit for their traditional West Coast offense.
If Lynch gets selected before the Broncos pick, then perhaps they can take a longer look at Connor Cook or shift gears to another position. However, as it stands right now, their best bet for the future would be to target Lynch in the first round. He has “successful starting QB” written all over him, and Denver’s system would help him get there.
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