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The Denver Broncos held a scrimmage on Sunday as part of their training camp schedule and third-string quarterback Chad Kelly shined, while second-team quarterback Paxton Lynch struggled.
After practice, Head Coach Vance Joseph was asked about Kelly’s performance and whether or not he’ll see some reps with the second-team any time soon.
“Chad looked good,” Joseph said. “I think he threw two touchdowns within five plays. Yeah, he looked good.”
He went on to note that he could see some reps with the second-team in the future, but was noncommittal.
Joseph did note Kelly’s natural playmaking ability later in the press conference.
“He’s a playmaker,” Joseph said. “He’s always been a playmaker. You watch his college tape two years ago, he just makes plays. It doesn’t always look pretty, but he just makes plays.”
It’s the looking pretty part that makes one wonder if Kelly is truly in play to get some reps with the second-team.
The problem with Lynch appears to continue to be ‘between the ears’, which has to be of significant concern for anyone who has followed his career since being drafted int he first-round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
“It’s definitely helped him just watching how Case prepares every day for practice,” Joseph said of Lynch being able to learn from Case Keenum. “He’s following him like a little puppy, which is good. He needs that as a young quarterback and he’s gotten better from that. Half of his job is between the ears, so the better he gets there, the better he’s going to play quarterback for us.”
Lynch came out of college as a 2-3 year project, but as he enters his third season it seems he is still struggling to pick up the mental side of the game of quarterback and that is a huge problem.
If he is unable to pick things up by the end of camp, then I would think the team would be better off with a ‘not always pretty’ playmaker like Chad Kelly over a quarterback who doesn’t have it ‘between the ears’ in Paxton Lynch.
Either way, its looking like the Broncos will need to seriously consider a veteran backup heading into the 2018 regular season.
And one other item as Broncos' camp is set to enter Week 2 and the preseason games approach: Regardless of how it's been publicly framed, if Paxton Lynch and/or Chad Kelly don't pick up the pace in the days to come the Broncos will almost certainly... https://t.co/65anUQxwlf
— Jeff Legwold (@Jeff_Legwold) August 2, 2018