You can make the case that the first week of preseason is one of the most-anticipated weeks of football all year. And then, after two series, all you can do is hope and pray for the real games to get here as soon as possible.

Having football back in our lives is fun, but for the vast majority of fans, the fun quickly begins to dissipate as undrafted rookies you’ve never heard of begin to play major roles in a game that doesn’t matter.

But if you watch closely, it can be fun, especially when it comes to the 2016 Denver Broncos.

The truth is that there’s a lot to be learned from preseason games; you just have to know what to be looking for.

With that being said, here are five storylines you need to be watching when the Denver Broncos take on the Chicago Bears this Thursday:

The Debut Of Paxton Lynch

Everybody’s talking about Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian, and rightfully so — it’s not every day that a team has co-starters at quarterback — but Paxton Lynch is still the future in Denver, and on Thursday, he’ll make his debut.

That’s exciting.

Whether Lynch has a chance to start Week 1 or not, his presence will make the second half of Thursday’s game one of the most entertaining halves of preseason football the Denver Broncos have seen in a long while.

Just make sure you watch out for all the hot takes.

Ronnie Hillman‘s Fight For A Job

Ronnie Hillman may be one of the three best running backs on the Broncos’ roster, but that does him little good as long as C.J. Anderson and Devontae Booker are No. 1 and 2.

With a contract worth $2 million in 2016, Hillman isn’t going to make the team as the No. 3 running back; John Elway isn’t going to spend that kind of money on a guy who’s going to ride the bench all year, not when he could pay a guy like Kapri Bibbs $525,000 to warm the seat just as well.

If Hillman wants to keep his job, he’s going to have to have the best preseason of his career and then some. With only $500,000 guaranteed, the Broncos have no incentive to keep him on the roster if he’s not going to play.

The Rookie Safeties

With David Bruton, Josh Bush and Omar Bolden all out of the picture, that leaves 779 snaps up for grabs. In all likelihood, those snaps will be divided up amongst rookie safeties Justin Simmons and Will Parks.

That’s no small task.

Before going down for the season, Bruton played 43.98 percent of the Broncos’ defensive snaps, and he played over 85 percent of the snaps in his final three games; that’s not a small number, and he was a crucial force when on the field.

The Broncos will be hoping that they can get that type of production from Simmons, Parks or both next year. Thursday will be our first glimpse into whether they can do that.

The Wideout Race

The quarterback competition may be the most-important camp battle of the year, but the most-exciting is at wide receiver.

Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders obviously have the top two spots on lockdown, but after that, it’s a free for all.

Let’s start inside. In today’s day and age, most teams essentially start three wideouts at a time, with two on the outside and one in the slot. In Gary Kubiak‘s offense, that won’t so much be the case, but a slot wide receiver will still be important to the Broncos’ success. That’s where Jordan Norwood and Kalif Raymond come in.

Norwood proved he could be a reliable option last season, hauling in 22 receptions and standing out in the return game, especially during the Super Bowl. Consequently, the Broncos rewarded him with a one-year, $880,000 contract this offseason ($50,000 guaranteed; $30,000 workout bonus).

But he has competition. Kalif Raymond, an undrafted rookie out of Holy Cross, has been impressing in camp, and if the speedy 5-foot-9 receiver can outshine Norwood in the slot, he could steal the job from right out under his feet.

And outside it gets only more entertaining, with Bennie Fowler, Cody Latimer and Jordan Taylor likely competing for two spots. Fowler brings the production, Latimer brings the pedigree and Taylor brings the fans.

These preseason games could not mean more for the wide receiver corps.

Trevor Siemian’s Rise

When you have a quarterback battle between an experienced veteran, a first-round rookie and a seventh-round sophomore, the seventh-round sophomore is the last person supposed to win that job.

Well, don’t tell Trevor Siemian.

Now, maybe the whole co-staters thing is just the organization’s attempt to prove that they’re running a fair and balanced competition, but if you listen to reports out of camp, it seems legit; Siemian is on par with Sanchez, if not outpacing him.

And even if Sanchez still has the advantage over Siemian, the Northwestern product has put himself in a position to take the job, and that’s about all he can ask for.

If he outperforms Sanchez in the preseason, especially if it’s by a large margin, he’ll be the starter. The most important question is whether he can hold onto it.