Last week, John Elway's search for quarterback competition shifted from veterans to a first-round rookie. After drafting Paxton Lynch on Thursday, Elway signaled the end of the Colin Kaepernick hunt and let Brian Hoyer know that they wouldn't require his services.
By not bringing in a veteran, Mark Sanchez is the only signal-caller on the Broncos' roster to have thrown an NFL pass -- Trevor Siemian is the third quarterback. Sanchez said Monday he takes the decision not to add a veteran as a vote of confidence in his ability to be a starter.
"Absolutely," Sanchez said, via the team's official website. "And that's been the message that I've received. I'm thrilled about this opportunity."
Sanchez will start offseason workouts in the starting spot, despite some horrific outings with the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Even though many analysts believing Lynch needs a year or two to develop, don't be surprised if the rookie wins the job out of the gate. First-round quarterbacks start as rookies in today's NFL.
Sanchez says he's fine competing for the gig.
"Whether it was a veteran that came in, any of the names that were out there, any of these guys in the draft that are becoming pros this year -- my focus wouldn't change," he said. "And the most important thing for me was to get involved with the players here, meet these guys, develop a relationship, learn this playbook as fast as I can, and then get involved in the community and establish myself as a leader on this team. That's going to take time and it's going to take reps, no matter who was here."
History tells us even if Lynch doesn't start out of the box, he'll get a shot in 2016. Sanchez's play in 2015 makes that statement even stronger. Unless Sanchez improves wildly from his game-tape last year, the Broncos could find it hard to keep their first-round rookie on the bench for long.
