The Broncos’ depth chart at quarterback has become a three-ring circus, with John Elway driving the clown car and Drew Lock locked in the trunk.

Want the definition of roster mismanagement? In the middle of a season, Denver has no healthy quarterback on its roster that has thrown a pass in a real NFL game.

No competent general manager would allow that to happen.

So when asked why ballyhooed rookie Lock isn’t even allowed on the practice field, all poor coach Vic Fangio could do Wednesday was spin a QB situation so sad it’s absurd.

“We have a plan,” Fangio insisted.

A plan?

What we have at the QB position in Denver is total system failure.

Erstwhile starter Joe Flacco is legitimately hurt and genuinely ticked at the team’s afraid-to-win offense. If Flacco ever starts another game for the Broncos, it will be too soon. He’s not the long-term answer at quarterback.

After being hurt in training camp, Lock remains so uncomfortable in an offense ill-suited to his natural skill set that the Broncos are afraid to subject their alleged QB of the future to the abuse resulting from Garett Holds protecting his blindside.

So while New Orleans didn’t miss a beat when Teddy Bridgewater replaced injured Drew Brees, and Jacoby Brissett not only picked up the pieces of Andrew Luck’s retirement but has led the Colts to first place in the AFC South, the next starting quarterback in Denver might be the first kid in a Broncos costume that rings Elway’s doorbell on Halloween.

There is no Plan B.

Here’s hoping and praying Allen, whose record against tough Southeastern Conference competition as the Arkansas starter from 2012-2015 was 7-18, doesn’t get booed or broken when he breaks the huddle Sunday against Cleveland.

It will be the first time anyone in Denver, or anywhere in the NFL, has seen the 27-year-old Allen take a snap in a regular-season game. So how has he looked running the scout team during practices with the Broncos?

“I’m not going to judge a guy off a scout team,” said cornerback Chris Harris Jr. “I don’t want to do him like that.”

Oh, boy. Here we go again. Crank up the calliope music. The circus is back in town, and Elway has started the quarterback carousel spinning again.

Round and round we go, from Paxton Lynch to Case Keenum to Joe Flacco, all of whom have demonstrated Elway has trouble finding a high-quality quarterback via the draft, free agency or trade.

Although he has no meaningful NFL resume, Allen insists, “The playbook’s wide open.”

Well, try telling that to Flacco. After the loss to Indianapolis, Flacco acted as if offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello was saving all the good plays for Lock, whenever Elway grants him permission to leave the house and go play.

Lock, who has spent his rookie season on injured reserve since suffering a thumb injury in August, said Tuesday he is physically ready to practice. On Wednesday, Elway told KOA radio the opposite.

So who’s fibbing here?

I’m afraid the truth is the Broncos are dragging their feet on activating Lock because the rookie’s ability to pick up the nuances of Denver’s fussy offensive scheme has been a disappointment.

Playing quarterback on a bad team is a good way to wreck a young QB’s confidence, as well as his body. But where’s the positive outcome of a lost NFL season if a last-place team cannot get Lock game reps to hasten his development, while also allowing the Broncos to evaluate his abilities?

The schedule in December offers three winnable home games against the Chargers, Lions and Raiders that would present a fair, reasonable test for Lock. The primary mission now for the coaching staff is to prepare Lock to pass that test.

In the meantime, Allen isn’t being given a real shot to win the job, so much as he is being asked to absorb the shots of the pass-rushers that blow by Bolles.

The inept Denver offense has not scored more than 24 points in 17 straight games. When I asked how the Broncos were supposed to score 24 with a quarterback yet to throw a single TD pass in the NFL, receiver Courtland Sutton confidently replied: “I do believe 24 is a number that we should be able to hit easily.”

Nothing the Broncos have done on offense since Peyton Manning retired has been easy, or even made much sense.

No QB in league history improvised better than Elway did on the field.

But, in the front office, Elway also seems intent on winging it.

There is No Plan B. At times, it seems as if the Broncos have no coherent plan at all.

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