The Denver Broncos believe that they addressed the big need at quarterback, drafting Paxton Lynch in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft Thursday night. The team worked tirelessly to move up five spots as time winded down to get Lynch due to their extensive research into the former Memphis University signal-caller.
“We worked the phones from noon on today to try and find where we could slide in,” GM John Elway said Thursday night. “We talked to everyone, starting from 17, all the way up. Finally, we were able to do a deal with the Seahawks and we were thrilled to do it.”
Kubiak delved into what impression Lynch left on him leading up to the big day.
“When I watch him on film, the thing that is really exciting is this guy extends plays. He has a knack for making people miss, extending plays,” Kubiak said. “It is really hard in this business to coach guys to keep their eyes down the field when they are moving and this guy does a great job of that. He’s a big strong kid, makes all the throws, moves around very, very well and like I said he is very motivated too. That is one thing I really like about him.”
Elway echoed those sentiments, adding he loved the young quarterbacks “enthusiasm” during games saying, “He’s a big, athletic, a strong young guy that fits us perfectly.”
However, despite the attention-grabbing pick Elway made it clear the search for the starting quarterback is far from over.
“We are going to continue to look at other quarterbacks,” he said plainly while detailing that Colin Kaepernick is likely out of the mix to join the roster. “We will stay open to everything. We obviously have to fill out our roster once we get through the draft.”
Through all of the tumultuous offseason of changes, Thursday night’s addition of Lynch certainly added depth and a giant boost in morale for the franchise. Former quarterback Kubiak seemed at ease finally when detailing the quarterback unit he has heading into day two of the draft Friday evening.
“The great thing about our situation right now with Mark [Sanchez] and Trevor [Siemian] and of course Paxton now is they are all coming up together,” Kubiak said. “Even though Mark is a veteran player, he is new in our system so the growth together will be a good situation for all three of them. There are no givens on our team. Everybody competes and I’m expecting him to come in here and make up some ground quick.”
