Report: Paxton Lynch will be the Broncos backup quarterback while Trevor Siemian will be inactive

According to 9NEW’s Denver’s Mike Klis, barring an unexpected setback, quarterback Paxton Lynch will be the Broncos number two quarterback on Sunday while opening day starter Trevor Siemian will be inactive.

This comes not even a week after Head Coach Vance Joseph told reporters that “there is no timetable” for Lynch’s return and that he “hasn’t thrown the deep ball yet”. Lynch took some first-team reps on Wednesday when Brock Osweiler sat out with an injury.

This sets up a scenario where Lynch takes over the starting job fairly quickly if/when Brock Osweiler falters at all on Sunday. I’d expect the leash to be short on Osweiler and we could see Lynch at some point tomorrow. I’d also say the odds of Lynch starting next week when the Broncos travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders are fairly good right now.

The Broncos NEED to know what they have in Paxton Lynch before they head into the offseason. If the Broncos lose tomorrow, they will likely have a top-five pick with only a little over a month left in the season. This puts them in prime position for picking a quarterback in the early portions of the draft. So they need an idea where Lynch is before they decide which direction they are going this offseason.

With Lynch moving to the backup role, this means opening day starter Trevor Siemian’s collapse continues. After being demoted to the backup role, he will now be the Broncos third-string quarterback and not even dress for Sunday’s game. It’s too little too late for this decision, but it was always coming.

The Broncos quarterback position remains in flux and will likely continue to change as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday.