The Case Keenum the Broncos may be getting that isn't being discussed

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The narrative surrounding Case Keenum the moment it became clear he was going to become a free agent in early March was: Who exactly is this 30-year-old quarterback?

Is he the player that bounced around from the Texans to the Rams earning the “journeyman” label the first five years of his career?

Or, on the other hand, is he the MVP-level quarterback who had an 11-3 record record last year, a 22-7 touchdown to interception ratio and led the Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship game?

Those two options have been, and will continue to be, debated until the cows come home with no definitive answer coming until this fall.

Yet almost no one is talking about option C—neither of the above. 

Moments after John Elway introduced Keenum as Denver’s starting quarterback—fulfilling a lifelong dream of Case’s—he was posed with the question that’s been circulating around Denver since the moment he agreed with the Broncos in the eleven o’clock hour on the first day of free agency: Will he be the quarterback he were last year?

His response was simple and unexpected: “I’ll be different.”

“I’m going to be better,” Keenum said with confidence, as he presented his third option to the nation. “For me, I’m a guy that has continued to get better over my career. That’s been a goal for me. I want to get better each day, I want to get better each week, I want to get better each season, and I want to get better each year. I plan on being better than I was last year.”

Outside of guiding the Broncos to a Super Bowl championship, it will be an incredibly tall task for Keenum, or nearly any other quarterback, to perform better than he did last year.

When listening to Keenum promise to be better than he was last year, what’s important to not forget is he was the Vikings’ backup quarterback the entire offseason all the way up until the second game of the season. Now, already declared as Denver’s starter, he’ll have this entire offseason to work with his fellow starters and coaches, something he didn’t get to do last year.

Simply for that reason alone, there is plenty of reason to believe Keenum could live up to his goal.

“I’m not the same player I was five years ago, four, three, even last year. I’m going to be a different player this year, and by different, I mean I’ve gotten better each year,” he continued. “I’m going to work on things I did well and continue to do those things well, and I’m going to get a lot better at things that I didn’t do well. That’s why, in the short time that I’ve been here and from an outsider’s view, I see a lot of the same pieces.”

Entering last season, the Vikings were built very similarly to the Broncos—a great defense supplemented by pieces on offense. Under Keenum’s direction, the Vikings went from the 23rd-best scoring offense in 2016 to the 10th-best in 2017, while the Broncos fell from the 22nd-best in 2016 to the 27th-best a year later.

Because of this, and the fact Keenum has never been a team’s full-time starter for an entire year, Elway doesn’t believe Keenum has reached the pinnacle of his career.

“He may just be hitting his stride for us right now,” the former quarterback said, speaking about his new $18 million quarterback. “A lot of time it takes different situation to get comfortable. Obviously, Case was in a good situation last year with the Vikings. My plan is to put him in that same situation this year where he can be successful and have the year, if not a better year, this year than he had last year and continue on.”

In the eyes of the Broncos, this won’t just necessarily be another typical upward trend for a quarterback that’s been in the league six years, either.

The advantage Keenum has over most other starting quarterbacks is the continuous uphill battles he’s faced year in and year out not just to be a starter, but to stay in the league.

“Most guys like Case Keenum, when they play and survive, they get better and better each year. He said it; he’s going to be better this year,” head coach Vance Joseph said, who was with Keenum in Houston during his first two years in the league.

“Those guys who play and survive, they get better. Most guys who play and don’t survive, they’re out of the league. For him to be here at this moment and be our guy, with what he’s gone through as a free agent out of college, and the work he’s put in with four or five teams, he’s hardened because of that process. He’s going to be good for us.”

While the country debates whether Keenum will come back to earth after his immaculate 2017 season, the Broncos are asking a different question: Just how much better will he be?