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Baker Mayfield wrong quarterback for Broncos if John Elway’s thinking is stuck in the past By Mark Kiszla Denver Post Jan. 25, 2018 Unless the Broncos are truly committed to changing the way they think about football, John Elway should stop wasting his time scouting quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen down in Mobile, Ala., and just go order himself a big bowl of boiled crawfish. Were those tears of frustration shed by Paxton Lynch all in vain? Let’s hope not. The Broncos have more than a quarterback problem. They have a stubborn problem. Have the public and painful NFL failures of Lynch, whose proficiency in the spread offense at Memphis made him a first-round draft pick, finally taught Denver a lesson? “We have to take what those guys do best and kind of put it in our plan,” said Vance Joseph when he arrived at the Senior Bowl to coach Mayfield and Allen. “We can’t watch those guys on tape for four or five months and then draft those guys and ask them to do different things. … We have to implement spread concepts for those guys to be successful on our level.” Well, hallelujah. It’s nice to see the Broncos finally intend to join the rest of the NFL in the 21st century. Now we will find out if Elway actually gives Joesph the authority to modernize Denver’s offensive philosophy. If Elway wants to give Mayfield, Allen or Sam Darnold a real chance to succeed after investing a first- round draft choice in a quarterback, the Broncos must adapt their system to a rookie signal-caller, rather than repeat what Denver did on its way to a 5-11 record. Watch tape of Mayfield winning big games for Oklahoma, check out why scouts like the potential they saw in Allen at Wyoming and review Darnold’s jaw-dropping moments with Southern Cal. It’s obvious none of these ballyhooed prospects is from the classic, old school of Peyton Manning. The pro game changed, and maybe Denver was too busy shining its Vince Lombardi trophy from Super Bowl 50 to adapt. When a team goes from champs to chumps within a span of two years, there’s something more wrong than a simple lack of football talent. In an Instagram world, the Broncos were stubbornly clinging to Myspace. From the looks of the vapid offensive game plans that resulted in Denver finishing 27th in scoring, Joseph and his 2017 coaching staff didn’t know what RPO meant, much less know how to implement run-pass option principles into their attack. There’s some truth to the get-off-my-lawn rant that college football fails to prepare quarterbacks for the pro level. But if the Broncos want to stick to their traditional offensive ways, their choices for a new QB are pretty much limited to spending big bucks on Kirk Cousins in free agency or hoping Josh Rosen of UCLA falls to them at No. 5 in the draft. “There are a lot more unknowns going into the draft then there is in free agency,” Elway told reporters covering the Senior Bowl. “We look at all the holes that we do have, see what’s available and how everything fits with what we want to do, and the value that’s there.” If Washington allows Cousins to hit the open market, his experience probably gives the Broncos the best chance to make noise in the playoffs next season. But at a price tag that could reach $30 million annually, how much value is there to be had in Cousins? When Lynch dabbed away tears after being forced from a loss at Oakland, it didn’t make him any less of a man. But it did reveal how painful it can be to force a round peg into a square hole. An NFL quarterback does win from the pocket. The run-pass option, however, is here to stay, even if Denver moves on from Lynch. Until the Broncos get unstuck from the past, they are not going back to the Super Bowl. As Broncos search for a QB, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen post contrasting performances at Senior Bowl practice By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post Jan. 25, 2018 The worst pass was thrown before most could see — before the stands filled with NFL scouts, before the lights turned on at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, before the real test began. It was Day 2 of practice for the North team and before Broncos coach Vance Joseph could take over, the four quarterbacks took the field for warmups. The drill was basic target practice: Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Luke Falk and Tanner Lee were tasked with moving over blocks, forward and the backward behind a makeshift line of scrimmage, before tossing the ball to the net. Mayfield took the first rep, moving back and forth over the blocks at the direction of quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan before nailing his target. Allen was next. Back and forth he moved, before tossing the ball over the top corner of net and into the end zone. Not even close. Although the sample size was small and relatively unimportant, it painted the picture of not just the ensuing two hours of practice, but the general assessment of the two headlining quarterbacks ahead of the draft: Mayfield, while smaller, is consistently accurate and leads his receivers to the ball. Allen, who can wow with a deep ball in the corner of the end zone, has a tendency to throw a pick or miss a receiver by 7 yards on the next play. Allen did just that Wednesday, hitting Colorado State receiver Michael Gallup for a deep touchdown along the right sideline. The pass led Gallup, as a safety trailed, and was undoubtedly one of the most impressive completions of the day. “That’s a great throw because the safety’s coming,” Joseph said. “He put enough pace on the throw to get it there before the safety could get there. That’s important with those double-move deep balls. He drove the ball in. Great throw and great finish.” But Allen followed with a string of misses. During seven-on-seven drills, Mayfield garnered a chorus of “oohs” after going three-of-four in a series and connecting on passes all over the field. As he moved, his throws remained the same — on point. Allen’s rotation was streaky, at best. The two-hour period flashed the risk and reward of drafting a quarterback, with Allen’s size and potential propelling him to near the top of the charts — if not the top — among quarterbacks. But his completion percentage continues to create pause, and improving accuracy when making the leap from the Mountain West Conference to the NFL is a tall task. For the Broncos, the week-long assessment is an advantage as they enter another offseason in search of a starting quarterback and help at multiple other positions. The work this week is only a fraction of the evaluation that will be used ahead of the draft, but it’s a significant piece nonetheless. And although no player has been perfect, the Broncos have said they’re impressed by the quarterback play thus far. “They look good,” Broncos general manager John Elway said of Allen and Mayfield on Wednesday. “It’s always good coming down here, throwing to people you’re not familiar with and new routes, so I thought the first two days have been really good. Very strong arms. It’s been fun to watch.” John Elway talks Senior Bowl quarterbacks, Broncos’ roster rebuild By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post Jan. 25, 2018 While most eyes have been fixated on two quarterbacks auditioning in pads and jerseys at Ladd-Peebles Stadium this week, it’s hard to miss the quartet of legends standing along the sideline. John Elway, the Broncos Hall of Famer and general manager; Gary Kubiak, his backup-turned-right-hand man; Dan Marino, the Miami Dolphins legend and current adviser; and John Lynch, a Broncos Ring of Famer and current San Francisco 49ers GM all stood within arm’s reach of one another to view Day 2 of practice for the Senior Bowl. Where Baker Mayfield’s feet moved, their eyes shifted. Where Josh Allen’s throws landed, their heads turned. There was little secrecy in their presence and their focus as they returned to the same spot to watch the same set of players showcase their talents ahead of the draft. But their assessments, well, they’re keeping those close. “I think we’re still in the process,” Elway said. “In the end, hopefully by April 25 (the day before the draft begins), we have everything figured and know which direction we’re going to go. But now we’re in the middle of the process. We’re three weeks out from the end of last season, so this is all part of the process about learning as much as we can about everybody. As time goes on, we’ll continue to work on them and study each one of them, and by the time we get to the draft, have them ranked and go from there. But it’s all part of the process.” The Broncos are early in their postseason evaluation period, and nearly every option is on the table as they search for a quarterback and look to rebuild an offense that has been inconsistent and underwhelming for more than two seasons now. Their roster for 2018 will probably undergo a significant renovation, with new parts arriving via free agency and the draft, perhaps even trades, too.

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