This is probably the most no-brainer story of the 2017 season. Who is going to be the Broncos’ starting QB? It carries with it the hopes and dreams of everyone in Broncos Country. We’ve been that way since Elway, and it isn’t going to stop any time soon. This fan base wants competent QB play, and it wants it last year.

Trevor Siemian - the incumbent

Why he’ll get the job

Siemian has a leg up due to his experience plain and simple. He’s got a brain for the job and is a guy who has shown he can get the basic job done of playing the game tough, knowing the system, and getting his passes out quickly in solid order.

There’s a confidence that goes along with Siemian. The rest of the offense knows he’ll get the plays in and know where the ball is supposed to go. That’s significant when compared to a much greener player in Paxton Lynch.

Why he’ll be playing backup

Well...because that’s what he is. He lacks arm strength, downfield accuracy (though the dude is ca$h money from 8 yards and in!), and the ability to extend plays. Add to that the fact that so far he’s shown on the field a complete aversion to the middle of the field, and his play honestly causes the offense to play without an appendage if you will.

The guy has his upsides, but he’s not the kind of talent you want to see in a long-term starter. Unless everything in his play last year was due to the inept coaching of Gary Kubiak and Co., he’s going to look really good holding a clipboard this year.

Paxton Lynch

Why he’ll get the job

He’s got everything his opposition lacks: arm strength, athletic ability, downfield attack, and a first-round status that no matter how much we may not like it, is an actual thing that matters in the NFL.

When drafted everyone and his/her cousin’s uncle said Lynch would be a project. He was drafted as a very raw player with little experience in a real NFL system. It is time for him to start developing though, and it just makes too much sense to start that now.

He now has a coaching staff that is going to be paying attention and working directly to improve his play and ability. Going into this training camp if both he and Siemian look about the same, at the end of the day it is Paxton that is going to be starting. It isn’t a de facto “open competition” like we keep hearing about. There is too much potential with a player like Lynch to let him sit and squander another year of development on the bench.

Why he’ll be playing backup

Remember when I just said he was raw? Yeah. Really. Big time. It is likely why Kubiak didn’t want to waste time with him last season as there were too many holes in his play. His footwork was a mess, he had trouble getting his head wrapped around the playbook, and his accuracy left much to be desired.

If he plays backup this year, it will be because he still hasn’t gotten far enough with these areas to be reliable week in and week out for an offense that needs stability from the QB position. The offense REALLY needs to work better this season and if Lynch isn’t being more good than bad, he’s not the guy for the job.

My No Bull take

I do love this crystal ball time of year where hope springs eternal. No one really knows what is going to happen. That being said, I’ve rarely been led astray when I’ve taken the time to step back and read between the lines.

The coaching staff Elway brought in in Mike McCoy and Bill Musgrave are veritable quarterback whisperers. Kubiak was let go after coaching the team to a Super Bowl championship. Siemian had one of the most inept stretches of play ever seen in the history of the Broncos, averaging a whopping 10 points in three straight games with the playoffs on the line. The talk of John Elway and what he wants in a QB as well as what he’s looking for in a system.

Too much is adding up to one answer: Paxton Lynch is going to be starting this year.