In what will seemingly become an increasingly difficult sell as a nationally televised game, Thursday’s Broncos-Jets clash will include another different Denver quarterback. The matchup between the winless teams will feature Brett Rypien calling signals for the Broncos, Vic Fangio confirmed Tuesday.
Rypien, who replaced Jeff Driskel in the Broncos’ Week 3 loss to the Buccaneers, will become Denver’s ninth starting quarterback since Peyton Manning‘s retirement. Fangio said Driskel may see time against the Jets, per Mike Klis of 9News (on Twitter), but the Broncos are trying one of their other backups while Drew Lock continues his rehab effort.
Since Manning’s retirement, the Broncos have used Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen, Lock and Driskel as starters — the most in the NFL since 2016. Rypien, a second-year UDFA out of Boise State and nephew of former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, went 8-for-8 in garbage time against the Bucs. He started four seasons for the Mountain West’s Broncos outfit, throwing 90 career TD passes at Boise State.
The injury-plagued Broncos signed Blake Bortles last week but were unlikely to use him for a short-week game. Should Lock need the estimated five- or six-week timetable to recover from his rotator cuff strain, it represents a decent bet Bortles will see time — given his experience edge on Rypien and Driskel. Rypien, at least, will play behind a more experienced right tackle than Driskel did. Longtime Bucs starter Demar Dotson will take over for the injured Elijah Wilkinson, Fangio said.
If you don’t watch it, be prepared for Trump to constantly brag about how his debate did better ratings than the mighty NFL. Regardless of your fandom or politics, Y’all better suck it up and spite watch this tire fire.
I’m getting excited about a third programming option I’ve just discovered. It’s a three hour documentary, that chronicles the invention and technical advances in coat hanger technology.
Sounds like, um, an exciting game… can’t wait
Polítics in a sports forum. ♂️. Thanks for that deflection. Must be a left winger
Deflection is your orange Messiah favorite tactic.
Better than watching a senile old man attempt to put a sentence together.
You’re right. It’s hard watching trump talk. He only has about 20 words in his vocab
Take all of your left/right/up/down/middle politics and kindly shove it.
As for starting Rypien, they may as well. Driskel is not the future, and neither is Bortles. Whatever slim and far out hope the Broncos has at contending this year has been torpedo’d by the rash of injuries that make the 9ers look like a healthy roster. Rypien is a developmental project with a big arm that has been around the team for a while now. It is doubtful that he ends up being the future in Denver but he has more upside than Driskel or a suddenly signed Bortles. They may as well see what he has. There’s no denying that the Broncos’ utter and total lack of an offensive identity is the biggest problem in Denver, and starting yet another quarterback will certainly hurt that. At the very least, however, they can discern what they have in Rypien and if he is someone they can develop any further.
Lock, despite his early upside, was less than impressive after his debut. Most concerning was his inability to take advantage of his powerful arm and capitalize on deep throws. The reason that this is concerning is because this was supposed to be his major strength as a passer. Now, Denver has an unexpected stable of promising young wide receivers. If neither Lock nor Rypien are able to take advantage of that this season, Denver’s record should place them in position to take a better quarterback in the draft, and they should. If either Lock or Rypien are able to show some development and promise of further growth, Denver will win enough games for this to not be a concern.
Starting Rypien is the right choice for right now, especially against a fellow winless team in the Jets. Even though there are a few holes on Denver’s roster, they have enough talent at the skill positions on offense for someone to be able to take advantage. Lock was a second round pick, Rypien was undrafted. If the Broncos have the ability to select a first round player at that position due to the inability of either of those two to grow as players, they do not lose too much in terms of draft investment. If Lock or Rypien plays well, there will be no need.
The biggest thing that’s positive mentioned here is Dotson taking over for Wilkinson, who is visibly out of depth at tackle and has been since he came into the league. Wilkinson is not a great player, but he is much more effective at guard than tackle and is a huge liability in pass protection. Whomever starts is being done no favors with him protecting the edge there. Hopefully Dotson can stabilize the protection there with his experience and show that age has not dimmed his skillset.