In looking back at the 2019 season, we will be handing out grades this offseason for each of the positional units of the Denver Broncos. We’ll jump right in with the position everyone thinks of first: quarterback.
Most teams in the league hope to start one quarterback all season and if not, the hope is that there is a capable backup sitting on the bench. In the case of the Broncos, the team used three different quarterbacks in 2019.
We will take a look at each of them individually, handing out a grade for each player and that will lead to a collective grade for the positional group.
Joe Flacco
Stats: 171-of-262 passing (65.3 percent), 1,822 yards, 6 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 85.1 QB rating
During the offseason, the Broncos were looking to move on from Case Keenum, who had just posted a lackluster 2018 season. The answer to how they would do that came in March when the team traded for Flacco.
Ousted as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens by the fast-rising Lamar Jackson, Flacco, a Super-Bowl winning quarterback, needed a change of scenery. Denver seemed to be a logical place for him to renew his career, but if you instantly hated this move, you and I have something in common.
Flacco’s best days are behind him, regardless of what John Elway may think, but the reason he was so bad for the Broncos was that he is just not a good fit for the offense Rich Scangarello wanted to install.
The offense sputtered with Flacco at the helm and that was evident even in the preseason. But if you want an idea of just how bad he was, go back and watch the Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Grade: D
Brandon Allen
Stats: 39-of-84 passing (46.4 percent), 515 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 68.3 QB rating
Allen started three games for the Broncos and that was probably too many. For some reason, the team was hesitant to go with its second-round pick, Drew Lock.
Instead, Allen, a former sixth-round pick playing for his third different team came in and won a game against the Cleveland Browns and suddenly, fans were talking about how he could be the starter going forward and into the future.
Really?
That’s just how hungry Broncos Country is for a quarterback it can believe in, but Allen is a competent backup quarterback at absolute best.
He did the best he could given the circumstances but the fact that he was the starter for three games was a poor decision by the coaching staff. That’s not on Allen, but if he was a better quarterback when he played, it might not have been a poor decision.
The two go hand in hand.
Grade: C-