The Denver Broncos’ offense did nothing well last season. This team ranked in the bottom-third of the league in passing, rushing, scoring and turnovers. Trevor Siemian set a new standard for meh at the quarterback position, completing 59.5 percent of his throws and averaging 7.0 yards per attempt. Denver’s ground game was actually sub-meh, gaining just 3.6 yards per carry.

Naturally, the Broncos are running it back with the same cast of offensive skill players, plus a few modest additions. Mike McCoy returns as the new/old offensive coordinator, which can’t hurt. But Denver’s O-line wasn’t anything special last season, and it’s likely to start a rookie left tackle in 2017.

Simply put, it’s tough to feel good about any aspect of this team’s offense. All we can do is look for well-priced fantasy assets, so let’s get to it.

Trevor Siemian or Paxton Lynch? Who ya got?

This is a terrible position battle — legit terrible. This team’s lousy quarterback situation limits the fantasy ceiling for every player on the Broncos’ roster.

Siemian was considered a QB of only marginal ability at the collegiate level. His numbers at Northwestern certainly did not scream “prospect.” He deserves credit for treading water in Denver last season despite his limited physical tools. The Broncos rarely looked deep last year, finishing with the third fewest completions of 20-plus yards. Siemian averaged only 3.6 deep attempts per game, yet still completed less than 60 percent of his total throws. Basically, he’s a scattershot passer with an ordinary arm and no discernible upside. Fantasy owners should not target him in leagues of any size.

View photos The Broncos haven’t yet chosen an opening week QB. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images) More

If Siemian continues to start for the Broncos in 2017, it’s really an indictment of Lynch, last year’s first round pick. Lynch has a four-inch height advantage over Siemian, he’s substantially quicker and he has plenty of arm strength. He’s the better pure athlete in this competition, no question. While he’s not the incumbent, there’s no reason to think incumbency is a critical factor in this competition. New head coach Vance Joseph sounds like he wants someone to outright win the job in August, working from the new OC’s playbook:

So how much weight will spring ball, when players run around wearing shorts in the sun, carry when it comes to evaluating Lynch and Siemian?

“This part? Probably zero to none, to be honest,” Joseph said Tuesday. “It’s going to be won on the football field. It’s going to be won in the games in the preseason. That’s where the evaluation starts.”

McCoy had success with every variety of QB during his first turn in Denver, you’ll recall, including Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow. If Lynch can claim the starting role, it may unlock a few things that were absent from the Broncos’ offense last season. And if he can’t claim it … well, wow. Not a great sign for the former No. 26 overall pick, entering his second NFL season.

Four of five Yahoo fantasy experts had Siemian over Lynch in the preseason QB ranks, but I went with Paxton. This team should be much more difficult to defend with Lynch at the controls, at least in theory.

Before we discuss this team’s receivers, let’s also mention Chad Kelly, Mr. Irrelevant in the 2017 draft and nephew of Jim Kelly. Chad’s 2015 season at Ole Miss was mostly excellent, highlighted by wins over Alabama, Auburn and LSU, plus a 302-yard, 4-TD performance in the Sugar Bowl. Over the past two seasons, he passed for 762 yards, seven TDs and zero picks against Alabama. He’s returning from ACL and wrist surgeries, however, so he’s no lock to be active at any point in 2017. He’s also a bit undersized, he has a tendency to make uh-oh throws, and he has a sketchy off-the-field history. There are red flags here, for sure. But it’s not like he’s trapped behind Montana and Young on the depth chart. When healthy, Kelly can play. He’s a decent late flier for dynasty owners.

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