The Denver Broncos didn't wait until the end of training camp to declare their quarterback competition finished. New coach Vance Joseph named Trevor Siemian the starter over Paxton Lynch in mid-August. He described Lynch as a "rare talent" but said "Trevor was more consistent for what we asked those guys to do during the preseason. He was the clear-cut winner."
At least one member of the Broncos is apparently a pretty big fan of that decision. Star pass-rusher Von Miller went on Pro Football Talk's PFT Live this week and talked about what he thinks of Siemian. Long story short: he's a big fan.
"We've been saying it for a long time, we said it last year," Miller said. "Him seeing the way it's done, he just has that Peyton Manning vibe -- he kind of looks like Peyton Manning too. It's great to have that energy from Trevor in the locker room and on the football field. I trust him in everything, our whole organization trusts him. He's looking 10 times better than he did last year and he did a lot of great stuff for us last year."
Comparing a third-year former seventh-round pick that has 14 starts, eight wins, and 486 total passes to his name, to one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history is obviously incredibly high praise. Given that Miller had a first-hand look at some of the best years of Manning's career -- from 2012 through 2014, Peyton completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 14,863 yards while throwing 131 touchdowns and only 36 picks, and led the Broncos to a 38-10 record -- that's even more true.
If Siemian ever puts together a stretch even remotely like that, it would be quite the surprise -- and not just because he lacks Manning's pedigree. The Broncos would probably be happy if he just showed a moderate degree of improvement over what he did last year, when he was a surprisingly adequate starter for a team that narrowly missed the playoffs.
