Paxton Lynch has regressed badly since coming into the NFL as the Denver Broncos first-round draft pick in 2016. He came into a terrible situation of being a first-round pick to potentially replace one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time in Peyton Manning.

Then came along the media-created frenzy of Trevor Siemian whose ‘arm of the gods’ one the starting job and the hearts and minds of Broncos Country. It didn’t help that Lynch lacked the student of the game mentality that all good quarterbacks have. It all led to this predictable result, with fans booing him as he took the field in a preseason game.

“Sometimes you go through tough tests just to take you to a whole other level. I’m taking it that way and working my butt off.” - Lynch

Lynch is still maturing, though, and now he is realizing his time is running out.

“When I first got the news, I was pretty upset about it because I know how hard I work, I know how bad I want to play and I know how much this means to me,” Lynch said of his demotion. “Sometimes you go through tough tests just to take you to a whole other level. I’m taking it that way and working my butt off. I’m just working hard and trying to get that opportunity and just play well. You come out here and sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you get frustrated, but you can’t because you have to keep moving forward.”

It’s been a career of setbacks so far, but Lynch is grinding. He wants to make in the NFL.

“I want to be the [starting] quarterback,” Lynch said. “I don’t want to be a backup and I definitely don’t want to be third-string quarterback. The cards have been dealt to this point in time and I’m not quitting. I’ll never quit, my mom never quit, my dad never quit, my brother never quit, I’m never going to quit and I’m working hard.”

“The cards have been dealt to this point in time and I’m not quitting. I’ll never quit, my mom never quit, my dad never quit, my brother never quit, I’m never going to quit and I’m working hard.” - Lynch

The problem with Lynch is that he was never correctly developed in the mechanics that go into being a quarterback. His struggle has been much more than just learning the playbook, although that’s the meme fans latch onto. He just can’t be successful if he can’t trust his footwork, his timing, and his accuracy.

His confidence has to be completely shot at this point, but he isn’t letting anyone know that.

“Yeah, if you don’t believe in yourself then no one else is going to believe in you,” Lynch said of his confidence level. “That’s what I have to do. I have to hang on that, come to work every day and get better.”

He has raw physical talent, but that’s exactly what it is still is after three seasons: raw. With the fan base completely turned on him, John Elway should do Paxton Lynch what he did with Kyle Orton when the same happened to him. Make a trade. Despite his woeful play, there will be a General Manager out there who is willing to take a flyer on Lynch in the hopes of continuing his development.