Well, it’s official. To the surprise of no one not named Mrs. Simms, today the Broncos announced that their starting quarterback entering the 2009 football season would be Kyle Orton. Though I think everyone always assumed he would start over Chris Simms, if for no other reason then he completed two passes last year and he still has a spleen, the timing does seem a little strange.
Wasn’t it just this morning that I was reading in the Denver Post, that the quarterback race was wide open and that there was no rush to name a starter? What happened? On the way out to practice this morning did Chris Simms bit the head off of a squirrel or something?
Don’t take this as me complaining though. I am actually a huge believer in naming a starter early – especially with everyone learning a new system. Whoever is going to be under center come this fall needs to spend as much time as possible developing timing with his receivers and offensive linemen (at least most of his receivers. Uno-Cinco is apparently still hiding out down in O-town. At least he actually came and talked to Pat Bowlen first – are you paying attention Jay?).
So, now we know that unless Orton puts in an Alex Smith type performance in the pre-season he will be the Broncos quarterback. So what does that mean?
Well, there is a good reason the Broncos took Knowshon with the 12th pick this spring. They aren’t going to be able to ride Kyle’s arm to an 8-8 record like the offense did last year. This offense is going to need to be more balanced. With a solid offensive line working together for the second year and some combination of Correll Buckhalter, Knowshon, and Peyton Hillis in the backfield, expect a return to an offense that is actually capable of gaining 4 yards when they need it, without resorting to dink-and-dunk passes to the wide receivers. A solid running game, might also mean that linebackers won’t be able to freely drop into coverage and pick off all those underneath passes forced into a triple covered Uno-Cinco. Oh wait, Cutler is not here anymore.
The conventional wisdom (by which I mean, all of the so-called experts on TV that still think Brett Favre is an improvement at quarterback for the Vikings, despite all evidence to the contrary) is the Orton is a big step back from Cutler. But do the Broncos need Cutler’s flashy numbers and erratic play?
No. They need a leader that doesn’t make mistakes and puts them in position to win.
Is Orton that guy? I honestly don’t know. He has never had any talent around him while in Chicago so is a comparison of his numbers there really relevant?
Remember this is a team that moved a defensive back to wide receiver, despite the accepted wisdom that defensive backs are defensive backs because they can’t catch. He handed off to ‘the other’ Adrian Peterson after Cedric Benson came and went quickly on his way to slotting his way right behind Blair Thomas on the list of biggest bust running backs of all time. Last season the Bears drafted Matt Forte to finally provide him at least one weapon. Is it a surprise Orton had his best season and led the Bears to a 9-6 record, which I believe may have been better than the record of the Bear’s new quarterback? This despite the fact that Orton was sacked 27 times last season. While some of that may be due to the extra drag cause by his grungy beard, you can’t tell me that his offensive line was as good as the one he now lines up behind.
So, while I don’t know yet whether Kyle will lead the Broncos back to the playoffs, I am at least content to know who the quarterback will be this year.
Now he just needs to grow that mangy beard back, like the last Bronco QB to play in the postseason.
