Does Addition of Joe Flacco Make the Broncos a Playoff Team? by Ryan O’Halloran & Mark Kiszla Denver Post Feb
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Kiszla vs. O’Halloran: Does addition of Joe Flacco make the Broncos a playoff team? By Ryan O’Halloran & Mark Kiszla Denver Post Feb. 19, 2019 Kiz: Life is weird sometimes. Looking for respite from an arctic blast of winter in Wyoming last week, I sipped on a rye in Joe’s, which is proud to be the smallest bar in Rock Springs. And I was rocked by the news the Broncos had agreed to a trade for Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco. At first, I thought it must be a joke. Still do. Does football operations chief John Elway seriously think Flacco can be the key to a playoff run in 2019? O’Halloran: I was also surprised since it seems like the Broncos were bidding against themselves for Flacco instead of waiting for him to get released. I highly doubt Elway believes Flacco is the key for the Broncos to be 2019 contenders. And Elway shouldn’t believe Flacco represents even a big piece toward returning to respectability. Over the last four years, Flacco is 24-27 as a starter with 64 touchdowns and 46 interceptions. He is a long way removed from his lights-out postseason in 2012 in which he led the Ravens to the Super Bowl. The Broncos need to add many more players to be playoff-good. Kiz: OK, I get it. The Broncos have had better luck during the past 20 years with quarterbacks plucked from the recycle bin than QBs they selected in the NFL Draft. But Flacco isn’t Peyton Manning. Despite his Super Bowl ring, Flacco isn’t even Jake Plummer. For going on four years, Flacco has been no better than a C-minus quarterback. I realize Elway didn’t pay a lot of to get Flacco. But, in this case, I’m afraid the Broncos will get exactly what they paid for: Case Keenum 2.0 O’Halloran: Ouch. The top two reasons I liked this trade (and still do considering they gave up a fourth- round pick and no guaranteed money remains) is it means the Broncos won’t (we think) trade up to draft a quarterback this year and Flacco isn’t Keenum. The Broncos’ Plan A is having offensive line coach Mike Munchak rebuild that sub-par group to give Flacco time to throw and open running lanes for Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. Kiz: Yes, it’s possible to imagine Flacco as more effective than Keenum, because it would be difficult to be much worse. But aren’t the Broncos still stuck with the worst quarterback in the AFC West? Does the addition of Flacco make Denver a 10-6 team? I doubt it. But if you trade for Flacco, what sense does it make to take a QB in the first round of this year’s draft? Is Flacco keeping the huddle warm until Elway makes a big play for a college QB in 2020? O’Halloran: Yes, Flacco will trail Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Philip Rivers (Chargers) and Derek Carr (Raiders). Is Flacco worth four wins? No way. Can he coax the Broncos to two additional wins and then coach Vic Fangio confuses opponents for two more wins? That is the Broncos’ best hope. It makes no sense to draft a quarterback in this year’s first round unless Elway does a bunch of wheeling and dealing to move down from No. 10 and then move back up into the latter part of the first round. Elway should already have his eyes on the 2020 quarterback class (Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Washington’s Jacob Eason, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Oregon’s Justin Herbert, for starters). But if Flacco makes the Broncos even a little bit better, it will take a ransom to move up from Nos. 14-17 into the top four picks. That’s why Elway should take a quarterback in round 2 or 3 this year. Greedy Williams to Broncos? Mel Kiper Jr. has Denver selecting LSU CB in NFL mock draft. By Joe Nguyen Denver Post Feb. 19, 2019 The Broncos are getting Greedy. In Mel Kiper Jr.’s second 2019 NFL mock draft — which was unveiled Monday morning — the ESPN draft expert has Denver selecting LSU cornerback Greedy Williams with the No. 10 pick. “For now I’ll go with cornerback here, as the position is the team’s top need, especially with Bradley Roby likely to leave in free agency,” Kiper writes. “There has been a lot of talk about Williams’ apparent allergy to tackling, but he can improve there in the NFL. And you don’t see pro-ready corners with his size (6-2, 180) and skill set often; he is a rare talent.” Kiper added that even though the Broncos are trading for Joe Flacco, the team “could still draft a quarterback high, even if it’s not in Round 1.” Kiper’s previous pick for the Broncos, Georgia CB Deandre Baker, tumbled to No. 20 to the Steelers. Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa is still predicted to go No. 1 overall to the Arizona Cardinals. As for quarterbacks, Kiper has Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins going to the Giants at No. 6, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray to the Dolphins at No. 13, Missouri’s Drew Lock to the Washington Redskins at No. 15 and Duke’s Daniel Jones to the Patriots at No. 32. The NFL draft takes place April 25-27 in Nashville, Tenn. Broncos mailbag: Fans react to Joe Flacco trade, wonder what's next By Mike Klis 9 News Feb. 19, 2019 Nothing like a trade for a new quarterback to fill up a mailbag. The 9News Broncos Mailbag was so stuffed, we answered not only 9 letters, but three bonus inquiries. Joe Flacco. Seriously? What makes anyone think he's better than Keenum? And don't tell me about his past. This league is about what you've done for me lately. And lately, he's pretty much done nothing. --Dennis DeJulio, Aurora Dennis – From what I’ve gathered from others around town, you’re not alone in your assessment of the Flacco trade. To your point, Flacco ranked 28th among NFL quarterbacks in passing efficiency in 2018; 25th in 2017; 24th in 2016; and 30th in 2015. But a key for the Broncos was Flacco went 10-6 and won a playoff game in 2014, when Gary Kubiak was his offensive coordinator. Flacco will be operating in a similar, Kubiak-styled offense in Denver with new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, who trained under Kyle Shanahan, who trained under Kubiak and his father, Mike Shanahan. But I do think Flacco is better than Case Keenum, Dennis. I can’t give you passing stats, necessarily. But Flacco has proven to be a better winner than passer. He has a 96-67 record as a starter with an 84.1 career passer rating. Keenum is 26-28 with an 84.5 rating. Additionally, Dennis, I refer you to the story 9NEWS published Sunday. Nine other Hall of Fame quarterbacks at one time were considered washed up by their original teams, only to prove them wrong after landing with another team. And while Flacco is no Hall of Famer, either was Kurt Warner until he had a late-career comeback with the Arizona Cardinals. Same goes for the careers of Y.A. Tittle, Fran Tarkenton and Sonny Jurgensen. I know it didn’t end well for Flacco in Baltimore. He lost his starting job to a rookie who is a poor passer, even if Lamar Jackson is exciting. But with my own eyes, I saw Flacco play very well in week 3 last season, completing 25 of 40 for 277 yards and a touchdown without a pick in a 27-14 win against the Broncos. The next week, he threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in a 26-14 win against Pittsburgh. So it wasn’t that long ago that Flacco was playing well. Worst case, Flacco is a Band Aid on a Band Aid (Keenum). Best case, he becomes a nice fit in the Scangarello offense and has two or three more quality seasons left in him. Mike, do you think it would be possible to trade Case Keenum if the Broncos offered to pay half of his guaranteed money? Steve Swendler Steve – It’s not the $7 million full guarantee, but $18 million total salary for 2019 that makes Keenum virtually untradeable. Perhaps, the Broncos and Keenum can agree on a restructured deal that would make Keenum more attractive to other teams. The Philadelphia Eagles would be a possible destination for Keenum. The Eagles have always invested more than others in backup quarterbacks and after they move Nick Foles – probably to Jacksonville or Washington – Keenum would make sense as a backup to Carson Wentz. Remember, the Eagles broke the backup QB market three years ago when they brought in Chase Daniel as a $7 million-a-year backup. It could work out so Keenum is released and signs for say, $1 million with the Eagles, which would leave the Broncos on the hook for $6 million. Washington, Jacksonville and the New York Giants would also be logical destinations for Keenum. The Broncos decided Keenum was a playoff-caliber starting quarterback. But he now hits the market as one of the league’s best No. 2 quarterbacks. It doesn’t pay as well. But there still should be a strong market. Billy Turner and Domata Peko. Are they gonna re-sign them? --Youssef Shawky Youssef – The Broncos are talking to the agent of Turner, the versatile offensive lineman.