Broncos Notebook: Why Denver chose Brandon Allen

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Since the end of April, the Broncos have been grooming three quarterbacks to backup Joe Flacco.

Eight days before the season kicks off, the Broncos completely abandoned those plans, opting to go an entirely new direction instead.

Along with Drew Lock being placed on the injured reserve, the Broncos didn’t just waive one of their remaining backup quarterbacks, they waived both Kevin Hogan and Brett Rypien—who has since signed to the practice squad.

In their place, John Elway claimed Brandon Allen off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

“He comes from a similar system, so hopefully his learning curve will be short,” Vic Fangio said on Monday, explaining why the three-year pro is Denver’s best option to backup Flacco. “We liked his ability and thought he was a good fit for us.”

Rich Scangarello and Sean McVay run similar offensive systems, an aspect Elway stated on Saturday would be important in their search for their next backup quarterback, which turned out to be Allen.

“We just think he’s a good athlete. Throws a good ball. I like the way he runs an offense, what little I’ve seen of him,” Fangio continued to explain. “We think he’s a good fit. We’ll see.”

On Monday, less than 24 hours after arriving in Denver, Allen calmly said he “absolutely” sees similarities between the offense he ran in Los Angeles the past two years and his new scheme with the Broncos.

“A lot of the concepts are very similar,” the 6-foot-2, 209-pound quarterback said. “Terminology wise, just have to learn that, which will be fine. As far as reads and things, I think I’ll be able to pick that up pretty quickly because of the similarities.”

It also didn’t hurt Allen’s case that less than 10 days before Denver claimed him off waivers he went 12-of-19 for 162 yards and a 90.2 passer rating against Fangio’s defense in the third week of the preseason.

Now, Allen is one snap away from being Denver’s quarterback in just one week’s time. And what a fun week it’ll be as he’ll have “a lot” more work on his hands this week to prepare.

OTHER NOTES

• Fangio downplayed the numerous moves Denver made on Sunday, saying “it happens every year” to teams around the league.
  • “We just felt with each and every move it helped make us better,” the head coach simply said.
• The team officially placed Drew Lock, Jake Butt and Theo Riddick on the injured reserve. All three players are eligible to return midway through the season, but the team can only bring two players back.
• Denver signed former Bronco Corey Nelson to a one-year deal to help provide depth at inside linebacker.
• Nelson “seemed to pick things up quickly” during his first practice with the Broncos on Monday, Fangio stated.
  • “Hopefully he fits in smoothly and quickly,” Fangio said. “He’s another guy that’s been in a camp. He’s football ready, he’s just got to become Bronco ready soon.”
• The Broncos locked in cornerback Davontae Harris to a two-year deal. He was released by the Bengals over the weekend.
• Keishawn Bierria was brought back to the 53-man roster with a two-year contract.
• Elway finalized his 10-man practice squad by signing offensive lineman Jake Rodgers and inside linebacker Josh Watson, both of whom were waived by the team on Sunday. Both players joined Monday’s practice midway through after signing their deals.
• According to Fangio, new tight end Andrew Beck has a chance to be the team’s fullback next Monday night against the Raiders.
  • “One thing about these guys that you’ve claimed from other teams, yes they’re coming in and learning a new system, but they’ve come from other camps so they’re football ready, they just got to—and it’s actually easier to come in and learn in a game week than it is in training camp because things are paired down and dialed in more,” Fangio explained.
• “There’s a chance” Todd Davis plays in Week 1, the head coach announced on Monday. Davis has been out since the first day of training camp with a partially torn calf.
• According to Fangio, first-round pick Noah Fant “will be out there a lot” in Week 1.
• The Broncos will not have season-long captains. Instead, the team will just have game-day captains.
• There’s no clear picture on how much time Andy Janovich and Joe Jones will miss in the regular season, Fangio stated.
• The plan is to have new Bronco Diontae Spencer be Denver’s starting punt returner Week 1.
  • “That’s the way we’re looking to do. We’ll see how he does this week,” Fangio said on Monday, 24 hours after the Broncos claimed him on waivers from the Steelers. “He’s a good returner. He’s got a lot of experience doing it. He’s quick, he’s fast and he’s a seasoned returner.”
• The seven new members of the Broncos were all assigned numbers on Monday.
  • No. 2 Brandon Allen
  • No. 11 Diontae Spencer
  • No. 20 Duke Dawson
  • No. 27 Davontae Harris
  • No. 56 Corey Nelson
  • No. 62 Corey Levin
  • No. 83 Andrew Beck