Broncos Country reacts to Paxton Lynch as first-round pick

In a not-so-surprising-but-maybe-a-little-surprising move, the Denver Broncos traded up to 26 from 31 to select University of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch as its first-round pick.

John Elway had been afraid other teams behind them (such as the Chiefs) were going to jump up to take Lynch, so the Broncos stole their thunder and traded spots with the Seahawks to go get "their guy."

"He was our guy that we had pinpointed, and fortunately he fell far enough that we could go up and get him," Elway said Thursday night. "He has a tremendous amount of athleticism. He's big, he's strong and he's just going to continue to get better. We're extremely thrilled to have Paxton."

Elway and coach Gary Kubiak are excited to bring Lynch on board and give him the needed time and development to prepare him to take the reins when he's ready.

But both Elway and Kubiak like what they see so far - a lot of athleticism, vision and enthusiasm.

"It's really hard in this business to coach guys to keep their eyes downfield when they're moving, and [Lynch] does that," Kubiak said.

While Pro Football Focus gave the pick a grade of B, it also pointed out the Lynch was No. 1 in this year's QB class for accuracy rate under pressure at 70 percent.

And Elway acknowledged that this move will end any pursuit of 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Lynch's new teammates were definitely excited to welcome him to the squad and invite him to join the defending champs in getting back to work.

Lynch, who threw 28 touchdowns last year and passed for over 3,700 yards, knows he's getting an ideal situation with such high-caliber receivers as Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas and says he is "ready to work."

Lynch knows the M.O. on him is that he's "a project," but that doesn't bother him one bit.

"I don't think any QB is ready," Lynch said, "so every QB is a project when they come in to the NFL."

Like DeMarcus Ware put it, Lynch has the ultimate opportunity to make something of his football career.