As our season is already far over and we’re dancing in the schadenfreude of folly from our division rivals jokes.

The QB is where it is at in the NFL and as we get ready to embark on a new era for the Denver Broncos, I feel it is a good idea to take a look back at one of the more polarizing disappointments for the Broncos in recent years: Paxton Lynch.

His saga isn’t even over, but it sure feels that way to me.

A look back

We traded up in the draft to go get a guy who looked like a dangerous prospect coming out of college with a big arm and athletic ability to boot. John Elway was getting his strut on as he beamed with pride after drafting Lynch.

Then came two years of frustration.

Lynch couldn’t beat out a future real-estate salesman. Even when the deck seemed so obviously stacked in his favor to start the 2017 season.

Go read the press conference quotes. Vance Joseph “didn’t want a game manager.”

And this from Elway:

“We’d like the decision made by itself. We’ve talked about that decision being made by itself. We want one of them to take the reins and take over it would be the ideal situation.”

All pre-season it seemed to me and many others closely watching the team that Elway and the Broncos wanted Lynch to step up and take over.

But that plan never matured.

And even when he did get time on the field, he still looked like a guy fresh to the league who didn’t even seem to have a clean grasp on the offense (¾ of the way through the season might I add).

So what is the problem?

The problem is that Paxton Lynch is a small-school QB who came into the league that basically speaks a foreign language two eras ahead of where he was developmentally.

And from where I sit, instead of strapping in and busting his tail, he just picked up his helmet and “did his best” during business hours with nothing to show for it but a seat on the outside looking in after a 5 - 11 season that he didn’t even get a shot to play in half the games.

We’ve heard the whispers here and there: Dude spent too much time last year playing X-box instead of working on his craft.

The team this preseason seemed quite smug while the “competition” was going on and then celebratory when Trevor Siemian was finally named the starter after weeks of derpy play by Lynch.

The problem is, ladies and gentlemen, Paxton Lynch is a bust and it isn’t about him not getting a chance. This is the NF FRIGGIN L. You don’t ask for a chance, you take it. If the coaches aren’t noticing you, put something on the screen that gets their attention.

Yet, I’m thinking back and not recalling one singular play that makes me think this kid ever got it.

My crystal ball says…

Don’t hold your breath on Paxton Lynch ever making it in the NFL. Elway may not release him, but you can bet money on him trying to trade him for anything this offseason.

And let me say that the right move is to release him. He’s a boat anchor weighing down this team...you could say that about almost every QB in the locker room from the 2017 season. Every team in the NFL needs a QB who is going to bust his tail to be excellent at his craft and after 2 years I think we can say with some certainty that that is not the M.O. of Paxton Lynch.