We have entered into something of a dead space in the life of NFL football. Things are especially slow due to the labor dispute. We do not have free agency and player trades going on as they usually do during this time. We are not yet to the NFL Draft, though we are having fun speculating about how it might fall.
We have entered into a period in which there has been much speculation about what the Broncos quarterback situation will look like next year. We have seen the position that things will continue as is -- Orton will be the starter, Tebow the backup and Quinn the afterthought. We've seen how some believe that Tebow will get the nod, Orton a bus ticket and Quinn an acknowledgment that he's still on the roster. We have seen speculation that Fox/Elway/Xanders don't like any of the three and so are busily looking at the college quarterbacks in the hopes of discovering the next John Elway, so that Tebow will be the starter, the rookie the backup, Orton gone, and Quinn still an afterthought.
Since we do not really know what is going to happen in the next few weeks, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the seventeen men who have served as Denver's primary starting quarteracks.
Take the jump, you might learn something new.
Here are some fun facts about the seventeen men who took the helm of the Broncos as the primary starting QB (Please Note: all numbers are based on the statistics posted on the pro-football-reference.com website and include statistics from each quarterback's entire tenure with the Broncos):
1)Most Popular Name: Steve (Ramsey, Tensi, Deberg)
2)Most Popular Jersey Number: #7 (Slaughter, Morton, Elway) and #15 (Lee, Choboian, Briscoe)
3)Shortest Career as a Bronco: 1 year -- Max Choboian, Marlin Briscoe
4)Longest Career as a Bronco: 16 years -- John Elway
5)Average Career as a Broncos Starter: 4.2 years
(note, if you drop Elway's 16 years out of the equation, the average career as a Broncos primary starter drops to 3.4 years)
6)First QB to end his Broncos career with a winning record: Pete Liske 6-5-0
7)First QB to end his Broncos career with more Touchdowns than Interceptions: Marlin Briscoe, 14 TDs, 13 INTs
8)Highest Completion Percentage: Jay Cutler 62.4
9)Lowest Completion Percentage: John McCormick 28.5
10)Highest Winning Percentage: Jake Plummer .722
11)Lowest Winning Percentage: Mickey Slaughter .157
12)Highest Number of Passing Yards/Year: Kyle Orton 3727
13)Highest Number of Touchdown Passes/Year: Kyle Orton 20.5
14)Highest Number of Interceptions/Year: Frank Tripucka 21.3
15)Number of QBs That Ended Their Broncos Career with a Winning Record: 6 (Liske, Johnson, Morton, Elway, Griese, Plummer)
PLEASE NOTE: THESE NEXT ITEMS ARE INTENDED PURELY FOR FUN AND NOT SERIOUS CONSIDERATION:
16)Jersey Numbers:
6 - Jay Cutler
7 - Mickey Slaughter, Craig Morton, John Elway
8 - Kyle Orton
10 - John McCormick, Steve Ramsey
12 - Charley Johnson
13 - Steve Tensi
14 - Pete Liskey, Brian Griese
15 - Jackie Lee, Max Choboian, Marlin Briscoe
16 - Jake Plummer
17 - Steve DeBerg
18 - Frank Tripucka
17)Winning Percentage by Jersey Numbers
16 (Plummer) - .722
7 (Slaughter, Morton, Elway) - .613
14 (Liske, Griese) - .532
12 (Johnson) - .524
6 (Cutler) - .459
17 (DeBerg) - .454
10 (McCormick, Ramsey) - .413
8 (Orton) - .392
18 (Tripucka) - .346
13 (Tensi) - .328
15 (Lee, Choboian, Briscoe) - .304
18)Passing Yards Per Year by Jersey Numbers
8 (Orton) - 3727
6 (Cutler) - 3008
16 (Plummer) - 2907
7 (Slaughter, Morton, Elway) - 2576
14 (Liske, Griese) - 1992
18 (Tripucka) - 1919
12 (Johnson) - 1809
13 (Tensi) - 1288
17 (DeBerg) - 1273
15 (Lee, Choboian, Briscoe) - 1250
10 (McCormick, Ramsey) - 922
19)Touchdowns Per Year by Jersey Numbers
8 (Orton) - 20.5
6 (Cutler) - 18
16 (Plummer) - 17.8
7 (Slaughter, Morton, Elway) - 15.2
12 (Johnson) - 13
18 (Tripucka) - 12.8
14 (Liske, Griese) - 12.4
13 (Tensi) - 9.5
15 (Lee, Choboian, Briscoe) - 8.5
17 (DeBerg) - 7.3
10 (McCormick, Ramsey) - 5.2
20)Interceptions Per Year by Jersey Numbers
17 (DeBerg) - 8
10 (McCormick, Ramsey) - 9.1
8 (Orton) - 10.5
14 (Liske, Griese) - 10.7
13 (Tensi) - 11.3
16 (Plummer) - 11.8
15 (Lee, Choboian, Briscoe) - 12
6 (Cutler) - 12.3
7 (Slaughter, Morton, Elway) - 12.7
12 (Johnson) - 13
18 (Tripucka) - 21.3
If you know of any other fun facts about these seventeen men who helped shape Broncos history, please share them in the comments section.