Mile High Mess, Partially Solved

June 13, 2009 · Paul Raymond · Jump to comments

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Not too long ago, I talked about the mess out in Colorado, the mess that the Denver Broncos were in. The two main things I talked about were Brandon Marshall’s contract extension and the quarterback battle between Kyle Orton and Chris Simms. One of those was solved today.

Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels today declared Orton his starting quarterback.

“We said from Day One that when it was clear and apparent to us through the number of practices, meetings that you evaluate the quarterback on, that we would make a decision and we have,” McDaniels said. “That does not mean there won’t be competition now or in training camp, because there will be. Chris has a great attitude. He will continue to push. Kyle has the job right now, but we’ll see if he can keep it.”

Simms only played four games over the past three seasons so yea this really isn’t a surprise to anyone. But hey at least it clears up one major question mark. Now that the Broncos have decided on a quarterback they can begin to move forward.

The one plus is that Simms has a positive outlook on the whole thing.

“Kyle’s extremely underrated,” Simms said. “I’ve always felt that way. He was underrated in college, he was underrated with the Bears. He throws the ball very well. He’s a smart guy. He’s a big guy. There’s a lot of pluses about Kyle, and I have the ultimate respect for his game.”

“Between me being out of the loop a little bit, being a little rusty at the start, I would say that’s a fair assessment,” Simms said. “He mentally probably picked up a few things a little quicker than I did.”

Not something you’d expect out of someone who just lost out on a starting gig but hey he probably wasn’t surprised. Showing that kind of maturity should only help both of them and the offense more of a cohesive unit.

A quarterback battle while your top wide receiver is AWOL wouldn’t help at all, especially with them all trying to learn such a complex offense. Remember McDaniels did just come from the New England Patriots and he’s bringing much of that offense with him. “It’s based on accuracy and getting the ball out on time and dissecting the defense,” Orton said.

So for now its Orton’s job. If he struggles early and Simms proves to be a quick study things could change. But at least now the Broncos can now focus on the main task.

Getting Brandon Marshall to show up.

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