Broncos Pick 'Em: What does Teddy Bridgewater need to do to prove he’s THE guy, rather than A guy?

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Teddy Bridgewater and the Broncos are off to nearly a perfect start to the season.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Denver should continue their hot start to the season on Sunday as they are a whopping 10-point favorite against the New York Jets.

Will they cover?

Will they win?

Will they dominate?

The DNVR Crew breaks it down in the third installment of Broncos Pick ‘Em.

All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

What does Teddy Bridgewater need to do to prove he’s the guy, rather than a guy?

Zac: Keep doing what he’s doing — Now, of course Teddy’s not going to keep on his ridiculously impressive pace of 34 touchdowns and no interceptions. But if Bridgewater continues to be able to take over games with his arm, command the offense, win and simply be a great quarterback, then the Broncos have the guy.

The Broncos aren’t in any rush to financially commit to Teddy by giving him an extension. And there’s no need to do it now. However, if he continues to play near an MVP level deep into the season, then he’ll certainly be the Broncos guy.

Remember, the Broncos wouldn’t view him as a one-hit wonder. George Paton traded into the first round to select Bridgewater when he was with the Vikings. Teddy was then a Pro Bowler. After a gruesome injury derailed his career, he played at an incredibly high level in his five starts with the Saints in 2019 when he threw nine touchdowns to only two interceptions. If he continues to play well this year, Paton and Vic Fangio would have no problem extending Bridgewater.

At only 28 years old, the Broncos absolutely see a path for Teddy being their guy, instead of just a bridge.

Mase: Be a top-12 QB in passer rating and QBR and guide the Broncos to at least 12 wins, including playoffs — At this point, you will have found a quarterback with whom you can win. No, he will likely not be mentioned in the same breath with surnames like Mahomes, Rodgers, Brady and Wilson. But this would put him in the company of quarterbacks with last names like Prescott, Mayfield, Stafford, Carr and Tannehill. In other words — a quarterback who is good enough to give you a viable chance, and good enough to be a better option that casting your line back into the draft pond.

The last two weeks, Bridgewater has shown the efficiency, preternatural feel and accuracy that compelled the Vikings to trade back up into Round 1 in 2014 so they could select Bridgewater and have the fifth-year option. And certainly few people in the Mountain Time Zone have a better read on Bridgewater’s potential then and how it correlates with his play now than Paton. After everything from the last seven years, Bridgewater is still 28 — three years younger than Ryan Tannehill was when he exploded in Tennessee two years ago.

That said, the Broncos could face a difficult choice contractually if he maintains a level not quite at the stratum in which he sits now, but still above-average.

Such performance would likely push him into the range where he could expect an open-market contract that yielded an average annual value of $30 million. That would place him no higher than 10th among quarterbacks. But it would also put the Broncos into a salary-cap danger zone unless he eventually made the ascension to elite status.

In this case, the Broncos might be better served by giving Bridgewater the franchise tag — projected by OvertheCap.com to be at $28.583 million for 2022 — to see if he could duplicate the kind of season we’re talking about, where he has a chance to be “the guy.”

RK: Keep passing the eye test — Look, there’s no numbers that define what it means to be a franchise quarterback, but you know one when you see one. It’s a guy who makes a big play outside of the picket to convert third-and-long, it’s a guy who gets the team in the right play at the line, it’a guy who diagnoses the hole in the defense to get an easy TD in the red zone, it’s a guy who is the reason his team wins ballgames.

So far, that’s who Teddy Bridgewater has been for the Denver Broncos, but you don’t have to go far to be reminded of what teams he’s done that against. The good news for Bridgewater is he’s getting a chance to build on momentum week after week. If he can stay this hot and be this guy all season, the Broncos will have no choice but to make him THE guy.

Picks Picks Picks

Teddy Bridgwater passing + rushing yards over/under 258.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Zach Wilson passing yards over/under 213.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Teddy Bridgwater passing touchdowns over/under 1.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Teddy Bridgwater interceptions over/under 0.5

Zac: Under. Clean once again.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Zach Wilson interceptions over/under 1.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Who will have more rushing + receiving yards between Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams

Zac: Melvin. But very close.

Mase: Williams.

RK: Javonte, by a lot.

Jets total touchdowns over/under 1.5

Zac: Under. Only one.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Total touchdowns over/under 4.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Broncos total points over/under 26.5

Zac: Over. Barely.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Broncos vs Jets over/under 42

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

First-half spread Broncos -6.5

Zac: Broncos.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Largest lead of the game over/under 16.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Jets @ Broncos (-10)

Zac: Broncos. By 17.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos by 21.

Dolphins @ Raiders (-4.5)

Zac: Raiders. ?

Mase: Raiders.

RK: Dolphins.

Chargers @ Chiefs (-6.5)

Zac: Chargers. Chiefs win. Everyone else loses.

Mase: Chiefs.

RK: Chiefs.

Leaderboard

Last week

RK: 9-8

Zac: 8-9

Mase: 5-12

Overall

Zac: 15-15

RK: 15-15

Mase: 12-18