ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- You just might have to forgive the jersey-wearing faithful around the Denver Broncos these days.

Because woven throughout the team's 3-5 stumble through the first half of the season has been an almost constant reminder about the Broncos' struggle to settle things at the quarterback position.

After a career season in Minnesota in 2017, Case Keenum struggled with turnovers this season in Denver. Joe Amon/The Denver Post/Getty Images

There has been Russell Wilson, the guy many Broncos fans, even now, say the team should have taken in the 2012 draft instead of Brock Osweiler. There has been Derek Carr, a 27-year-old who has been to three Pro Bowls.

There has been Joe Flacco, who authored one of the most crushing playoff defeats the Broncos have ever endured. There has been Jared Goff, one of the "it" guys in the league who happens to be behind center for the league's only undefeated team.

There has been Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, two rookie quarterbacks who didn't entice the Broncos enough to make the move to select either in the 2018 draft. And there has been Patrick Mahomes -- twice -- with two 300-yard yard games to go with a 3-0 record against the Broncos in his nine career starts.

"We've seen a lot of those great young quarterbacks already," Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr said. "... It seems like every week."

The Broncos will see another in the league's new wave Sunday in Houston's Deshaun Watson, a just-turned-23-year-old, with four 300-yard passing games this season to go with his team's current five-game win streak.

And the Broncos, with Case Keenum halfway through his first season of a two-year deal he signed earlier this year, still seem to be searching for the long-term answer. The three quarterbacks they employ at the moment -- two on the roster and one on the practice squad -- were signed in March, September and October, respectively.

When backup quarterback Chad Kelly was released two weeks ago after his arrest for criminal trespassing, it meant that none of the five quarterbacks John Elway has selected in the draft in his tenure as the Broncos' chief football decision-maker was on the team's current roster.

That list includes a former first-round pick in Paxton Lynch, who was released in training camp after going 0-for-3 in training camps trying to win the starting job. All as the Broncos try to find an identity on offense and try to decide if Keenum, who very much would like to be the long-term solution, is that player.

Keenum has been spotty to this point and, after eight games, is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10. Asked this week if Keenum had played to expectations, coach Vance Joseph said: "... I think we're all 3-5. He's a 3-5 quarterback right now, I'm a 3-5 coach and we're a 3-5 football team. Can I coach better? Yes. Can he play better? Yes. Can his teammates play better? Absolutely. We're all 3-5. To judge one player on how he's playing, he knows how he's playing. He can play better, I can coach better and we can play better."

Said Elway: "Case will be the first one to tell you that some of the decisions haven't been really good. He works on that. I know that he's not trying to do it and he continues to work on that and try to prevent the turnovers. ... We also have to get him in good situations too."

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This isn't a new dilemma for the Broncos. They have a long history of getting their best work at quarterback outside of the homegrown route.

Four of the top five passers in franchise history -- John Elway, Peyton Manning, Craig Morton and Jake Plummer -- were acquired in trade or free agency. And among the top 10 individuals passing seasons in franchise history, Jay Cutler's 4,526 yards in 2008 is the only one on the list by a quarterback the Broncos selected in the draft.

But Elway has consistently professed the belief a solution can and will be found, even as Keenum has another half of a season to stake his claim. Elway has said the decision is based on the kind of offense, the kind of team you put around the quarterback as well.

"It all fits together," he has said. "It's all in the decisions you make."

For his part, Keenum knew what he was getting into when he signed with a general manager who is a Hall of Fame QB.

"For me, I grade myself on wins and losses, so, we're 3-5," Keenum said. "That's how I grade myself. We've done some things, we've won some games, but we've left a lot on the table. I think offensively we've done some things, to move the ball, scored some points, won some games and made some big plays at times, but not enough of those things. We have to do better going forward."