Originally Posted by
G_Money
Denver has quite a bit of talent IMO, just missing in a few key positions. Still, that can be overcome with good coaching. This is... the opposite of that. The problem is that all phases need to be evaluated, but all are interlocked. Is the talent not as good as we think and it's making the coaching staff look even worse? Are the coaches kneecapping a fairly decent roster? Can anything progress with Elway at the helm, considering the players and coaches he has picked over the years and who he has let go?
Honestly this most recent draft class is saving Elway at the moment. It's the single thing he has to hang his hat on since Manning retired, and even there he could have gone with a QB to build around in this last draft and chose not to. That looks like genius if Chad Kelly is Phillip Rivers - but if he's Rivers, then shouldn't he be starting soon? Denver has a mauler run game so far - in the spare moments it has been deployed - and Kelly is a mobile QB on a team with plenty of non-TE targets. But pass protection is an issue; to overcome it you would want coaches who can design mobile pockets and cater to the talents on the roster. Instead Denver has this:
So assuming Elway gets at least another year out of this regardless (because he's a legend not just in this town but every town and this team won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago) he has to figure out what to do with the coaching staff the rest of the way. No sense tearing the entire team down with your QB position only overpriced for one more season, especially if you can get one more restock draft like Denver had last year. But it all depends on Kelly, and whether he's the real deal or just John Kitna, as was recently suggested to me. Because Denver is staring at another potential top pick in next year's draft and there will be another QB option - though probably not as good as some options in this draft.
Are any of them better than Kelly? That is a question Denver absolutely needs answered this year. If it's a lost year - and it looks like it will be if the Broncos of the first five games keep playing this way - then Elway has to know whether his backup QB is his QBOTF or not. And that's true regardless of who is giving the stupid press conferences after losses.
If the Broncos lose in blowout fashion to the Rams as expected, Denver has to decide what they want to do with this season. They'd rather not start Kelly on a four-day gameplan against the Cardinals, assuming Keenum is healthy, and you'd prefer for his first start not to be in KC at the end of the month despite having a 10 day prep time. That would leave the 11/4 home game against the Texans as the "soft landing" for Kelly if everything is a disaster and the Broncos go winless in October.
Can they wait that long? Will they be bold enough to sack Keenum even halfway through the season for Mr. Irrelevant?
For Denver's sake - even if Keenum is being held back by the coaching staff and this isn't his fault - Denver is going to need some bold moves from Elway if this year goes the way it looks like it's going. That's not a rebuild, it's just accountability and duty to the team. No excuses.