ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Growing up in the 90s and 2000s, Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch had plenty of iconic quarterbacks to idolize: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and so on.
Despite that, though, Lynch had a different poster on his wall, a name very familiar to folks in Colorado, Kordell Stewart.
It’s not as if Lynch was even old enough to soak in Kordell’s glory days at Colorado, born in Stewart’s senior season of 1994 and it’s not as if he grew up in Pittsburgh, where No. 10 spent his NFL days. Something about “Slash” drew a young Paxton in, though, and he kept that same poster on his wall all throughout his college days at Memphis.
The connection is a bit odd, but it’s continued to come up for Lynch, and last week Vance Joseph created the latest example when talking about the Broncos quarterback battle.
“My experience on offense, being a QB my entire life, except for two or three years, it helps me understand all phases of the game,” the head coach said. “As far as the quarterback deal, I was in a competition in college with [former NFL QB] Kordell Stewart. It was very similar to what these guys are going through, so I get it. It is a tough deal. You have to be patient with the guys. You have to not take evaluation as a daily deal, but as a collective, full evaluation as far as time. It can’t be Monday he’s better; Tuesday, he’s better. It has to be a collective result as far as who was more consistent over time.”
It didn’t end there. Later, Joseph compared the two, potentially explaining why Paxton was a big Kordell fan in the first place.
“They’re very similar guys,” VJ said, likely to the delight of his quarterback. “They’re big imposing athletes with big arms and long fast legs. They’re both physical specimens, and that’s a great trait to have.”
The good news for Lynch—on top of being compared to his idol—is that if this competition turns out anything like Joseph V. Stewart, the bigger, more imposing athlete will prevail. If not, maybe the 6-foot-7 Lynch can help slash up defenses from the outside?
