Thread: Orton Still at Head of Broncos QB Depth Chart

Originally Posted by Butka

When the hell did Tebow acquire a cannon for an arm? He sure didn't have one in college and he didn't have one last season.

Yeah, I'm not absolutely certain that his arm is any stronger than Orton's either but one thing is for certain, Tebow hasn't learned how to put any touch on his passes. He throws a lot of line drives without much air under the ball but he can throw much better on the run and that's been a staple of the Broncos offense since the days of Elway.

Orton's arm is decently strong when is comes to tossing rainbows. It's his accuracy that was always questionable but he did seem to improve last year in that regard. What Orton lacks is the ability to drive the ball into tight coverage or throw the deep out. That's something he lacks in his game that Cutler doesn't. In general Orton needs his receivers to get a lot of separation in order for him to complete many passes. Lacking that he dumps off a lot like he did in Chicago or he'll throw jump balls if he's got a guy who can go up and get it.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

I think that Kyle Orton could have probably won us the game in Super Bowl XLI compared to what Rex Grossman did. I don't think he would have been responsible in some form or fashion for the six turnovers that we committed that "Gross, man" was responsible for. That being said, we had a top five defense that year and would have been able to support Kyle Orton's shortcomings.

Not making the necessary defensive adjustments and abandoning the running game are what cost us the game. I doubt Orton would have done much better with Turner's playcalling than Grossman did.

Our D held one of the nastiest O's to under 30(actually there D got them 7 of those 29 points thanks to a Rexxxy INT/TD) and got 3 TO's(that was a feat that year against that O) and got good field position from the ST's, and a score. What hurt us was everytime the D got a stop, or a TO, Rexxxy(3 for rexxxy) or another O player gave it right back to Manning. What could the D have really been expected to do better against that Offense w/that QB? Our O only scored 10 points, yet they weren't the problem? Our D didn't play big enough; but they were not the reason we lost....that is all on the O.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Our D held one of the nastiest O's to under 30(actually there D got them 7 of those 29 points thanks to a Rexxxy INT/TD) and got 3 TO's(that was a feat that year against that O) and got good field position from the ST's, and a score. What hurt us was everytime the D got a stop, or a TO, Rexxxy(3 for rexxxy) or another O player gave it right back to Manning. What could the D have really been expected to do better against that Offense w/that QB? Our O only scored 10 points, yet they weren't the problem? Our D didn't play big enough; but they were not the reason we lost....that is all on the O.

We abandoned the run game in a major way, especially after Cedric Benson went down. Thomas Jones could have gotten us 3.5-4.0 yards per carry had we continued to stay the course running the ball. That part is Ron Turner's fault. As it sat, Grossman turned the ball over, what, three times, and couldn't catch a ball snapped from center? That's why I say that we probably win the Super Bowl if Kyle Orton or even Brian Griese had played in his stead.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Maybe the Greezie one; I think we would have been more willing to stay w/the run at that point, and TJ was looking pretty good up to that point. But my point is, too often people put the blame on our D; our D played about as good as they could have given who they were up against; and the fact that their O kept putting them back on the field to early.

The Tampa Two did exactly as it was asked to to do that day against the Colts: it slowed them down. We weren't hitting on all cylinders from the week of the second Vikings game at Soldier Field on through the Super Bowl because of the injury to Tommie Harris. I think that had he played the rest of the season, the Bears probably dominate the Colts offense by getting a shit bunch of pressure from the interior of the defensive line. Of course, it would have also been nice to have had Mike Brown at FS. If we had had the same defense that we started out with at the beginning of the season, that team might not have lost a single game that year, and that's saying something when you consider that Grossman virtually gave the games against Miami, New England, and Green Bay away.

Back on the Kyle Orton front here's the lastest rumors from Donkeyville. Even Kyle's hero Brandon Lloyd, his favorite target last year, thinks he'll be moving on soon. There's no doubt that John Elway would love to get Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft and Orton is one of the few assets he has that might bring a 2nd round pick which could be traded to move up in the "Luck Lottery".

Orton, Tebow, Quinn vying for the job Aaron Wilson

Print ThisSend ThisJuly 21, 2011, 12:39 PM EST
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The top question surrounding the Denver Broncos hasn't changed. Who's going to be the starting quarterback as the Broncos debate the respective merits of veteran Kyle Orton, former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and former Cleveland Browns first-round draft pick Brady Quinn?

Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Lloyd told CBS4 in Denver that Orton gives the team the best chance to win, but he also acknowledged that he could be moving on. Orton has obvious trade value.

"Obviously Kyle Orton because of the experience and the knowledge of the game," Lloyd said. "The knowledge of the culture of our team, and playing with the guys on the team for the longest period of time. How I personally feel is Kyle Orton is going to move on to greener pastures and give himself a chance to really develop into the quarterback he deserves to be.

"So in my mind through the offseason I’m constantly thinking of how to make Tebow better. What can I do to help him develop as a quarterback? Because if Kyle’s here and he’s the quarterback it’s going to be really easy and probably take two or three passes for us to get back in the rhythm.”

Whenever training camp starts, it should be an interesting competition where the Broncos have to determine if Tebow has the stuff to be their long-term franchise quarterback or if he's not ready yet. The safer move is Orton, but Tebow's upside is intriguing.

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Aaron Wilson covers the Ravens for the Carroll County Times.

Does Tebow have an upside as a quarterback? That remains to be seen. Orton is decent, but I think he has peaked in what he is capable of being. He might be a good quarterback in a West Coast style of offense and that's it.