The Broncos are going with Trevor Siemian at quarterback. They’ve seen enough to conclude that right now he’s better than Paxton Lynch – time to start building some chemistry and rapport and try to win the AFC West.
It’s not surprising. Lynch has the cannon arm, but he hasn’t yet figured out how to play quarterback. Siemian has a much better head for the game – a better idea of timing and where to go with the ball.
Siemian won’t put up monster numbers, but he’s not nothing. I thought he had his moments last year; the team went 8-6 with him as a starter.
Siemian got knocked out of the Tampa Bay game early last year. He averaged 256 passing yards in his 13 full games, 8 over the league average. He was right at the league in average in interceptions. He didn’t do a good enough job putting the ball in the end zone, with just 18 TDs. In his 13 full games, he threw multiple touchdowns only five times – 4 games with no touchdowns and 4 games with just one score.
And Siemian isn’t a runner. He averaged only 4 rushing yards per game last year, with no touchdowns. He’s not going to surprise you with 2-3 rushing touchdowns. That works against him for fantasy purposes.
He’s entering his second year as a starter now, so perhaps he’s more confident knowledgeable and effective.
In my opinion, he’s a lower-tier option. For fantasy purposes, I think he looks pretty similar to guys like Jay Cutler, Sam Bradford, Joe Flacco and Alex Smith. Tyrod Taylor has been pretty good the last two years, but I think he might slip into this group. Carson Wentz is a second-year quarterback, upping his value in the eyes of many, but more realistically he’ll also finish in this group.
Last year 31 quarterbacks started at least eight games. In standard scoring, Siemian averaged more points than only six of those guys. (And that’s leaving out his abbreviated appearance at Tampa Bay.)
| QUARTERBACKS PER START (2016) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pass | TDP | Int | Run | TDR | Points |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 277 | 2.50 | .44 | 23 | .25 | 27.9 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 326 | 2.31 | .94 | 1 | .13 | 26.4 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 309 | 2.38 | .44 | 7 | .00 | 25.9 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 283 | 2.07 | .87 | 23 | .13 | 25.7 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 296 | 2.33 | .17 | 5 | .00 | 24.8 |
| Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 307 | 1.56 | .75 | 6 | .25 | 23.7 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 273 | 2.07 | .93 | 1 | .07 | 22.9 |
| Philip Rivers, S.D. | 274 | 2.06 | 1.31 | 2 | .00 | 22.2 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 244 | 1.44 | 1.00 | 22 | .25 | 21.9 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 262 | 1.87 | .40 | 5 | .00 | 21.7 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 270 | 1.50 | .63 | 13 | .13 | 21.7 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 256 | 1.75 | 1.13 | 10 | .06 | 21.6 |
| Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 204 | 1.45 | .36 | 43 | .18 | 21.5 |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 228 | 1.73 | .60 | 23 | .13 | 21.5 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 282 | 1.73 | .93 | 3 | .00 | 21.4 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 234 | 1.27 | .93 | 24 | .33 | 21.4 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 229 | 1.44 | .25 | 18 | .38 | 21.2 |
| Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 202 | 1.13 | .40 | 39 | .40 | 21.1 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 264 | 1.31 | .69 | 16 | .13 | 20.9 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 263 | 1.13 | .50 | 12 | .25 | 20.3 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 270 | 1.25 | .94 | 4 | .13 | 20.1 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 230 | 1.46 | .92 | 13 | .08 | 19.2 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 252 | 1.63 | 1.00 | -1 | .00 | 19.0 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 233 | 1.00 | .53 | 9 | .33 | 18.8 |
| Siemian (full games) | 256 | 1.31 | .77 | 4 | .00 | 18.6 |
| Sam Bradford, Minn. | 258 | 1.33 | .33 | 4 | .00 | 18.6 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 236 | 1.00 | .88 | 9 | .13 | 17.8 |
| Case Keenum, L.A. | 241 | 1.00 | 1.22 | 6 | .11 | 17.3 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 220 | 1.00 | 1.27 | 11 | .00 | 16.1 |
| Brock Osweiler, Hou. | 193 | 1.00 | 1.14 | 9 | .07 | 15.0 |
| Cody Kessler, Clev. | 171 | .75 | .25 | 2 | .00 | 12.0 |
—Ian Allan