There is no such thing as fair in life, and Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian should know it more than most. He has had to scrap and fight for everything that he has achieved in his football career, and he is currently in the middle of his biggest battle up to this point.
After Siemian started 14 games for the Broncos last season, the quarterback job has once again been declared open. Siemian and second-year man Paxton Lynch will be battling until September for the gig. You might think that after winning the job once he would be the incumbent coming back this year, but that just isn’t how things work for Siemian. Not only will Siemian have to win the starting job, he will have to win big.
It might not be fair, but Siemian has overcome the odds before and is looking to do it again.
After attending high school in Orlando, Fla., Siemian attended Northwestern University. He redshirted his freshman season, and in 2011 he was third on the depth chart behind Dan Persa and Kain Colter. In limited time Siemian went 16-for-26 with three touchdowns, but was hoping for more in 2012. That year he would split time with Colter and led game-winning drives against Syracuse and Vanderbilt. Northwestern isn’t exactly a college football powerhouse, but Siemian led them to a 10-3 record and a Gator Bowl victory over Mississippi State. The following year, it was more of the same. The Wildcats preferred the more athletic Colter, while Siemian would step in and make the most of his playing time. He threw for 414 yards against Illinois, the 10th-best passing effort in Northwestern history. He finished the season with over 2,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, and the table was set for him to come back and start as a senior. But Northwestern struggled in 2014, and Siemian would blow out his ACL in Week 11. His senior season fell well short of expectations, and the NFL Draft now looked more like pipe dream than a reality.
It nearly didn’t happen. The 2015 NFL Draft featured quarterbacks like Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, and with the final picks coming off the board, Siemian still hadn’t received a call. He was beginning to look at a career in real estate, when the Broncos selected him with the 250th pick out of 256 players taken. He would come to Denver, and assume his familiar role of being in the background. Peyton Manning was leading a loaded Denver team in pursuit of a Super Bowl title. When Manning went down in Week 10, Brock Osweiler would take over as the starter and Siemian would serve as the backup. He actually took a snap in a Week 15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, kneeling on the ball to end the half, as Osweiler underwent an injury evaluation.
Of course, the Broncos would win Super Bowl 50, sending Manning off into his retirement as a champion. The focus in Denver immediately turned to Osweiler, but he spurned the Broncos and instead took off for Houston. Now, the Broncos were scrambling to find a new starting quarterback, and no one was mentioning Siemian. The odds-on favorite was newly acquired veteran Mark Sanchez, while many fans hoped that big-armed rookie Paxton Lynch could eventually take over by season’s end.
However, Sanchez struggled with turnovers in the preseason, and Lynch proved to be in need of far more polish to his game. So, it was Siemian that was tabbed the starter for the 2016 season, but it would hardly be a happily-ever-after ending. Siemian went 8-6 as a starter, throwing 18 touchdowns, but the offense struggled and the fans were split on who should be starting. Critics pointed at the meager point totals and the low third-down conversion rate as proof that Siemian should be replaced. Supporters looked at the struggling offensive line, the lack of a productive running game and Siemian’s ability to come up with big plays at key times as a sign that he could be a bona-fide NFL starter.
When head coach Gary Kubiak stepped down following the 2016 season and Vance Joseph took the reins, the new head coach announced that the starting job was again up for grabs. Siemian and Lynch will battle for the position in OTAs, training camp, and the preseason. May the best man win.
Except that it won’t be that simple for Siemian. NFL teams prefer to get a return on their investments and the Denver Broncos have invested quite a bit more in Paxton Lynch. While Siemian was drafted six packs from the end of the 2015 draft, Lynch was selected with the 26th overall pick in 2016. With those kind of stakes, it won’t be enough for Siemian to eke out a majority decision. He will need to beat out Lynch decisively and prove that he is definitely the man for the job. It might not be fair, and it certainly won’t be easy, but that’s just how football goes for Trevor Siemian, and he keeps beating the odds.
Don’t be surprised to see him do it again.
