There’s more to being, The One, than being the one.

We know there’s a competition at quarterback, but it isn’t about being the franchise quarterback. It’s about who gets to start Week 1. When the time is right, who will be the back-up to Paxton. The saying, rank has its privileges, is true in football, too. Mark and Trevor are competing for their future, just not their future as, The One, in Denver.

When a coach and/or general manager make a list of team needs, they rank them. If quarterback is at the top of your list, statistics show you’d be better be looking at those ranked in the top five. There hasn’t been a Cinderfella story since a certain quarterback* took over in a cold harbor town.

Sure, talent matters, but ego can matter more. When a quarterback is drafted in the first round, it reflects on that team’s general manager, head coach and various scouts. Its owner. Its town. Its fans. The front office and coaching staff who gets it right, gets to crow the loudest. Relegating your first pick to watch for a year or two, isn’t wearing any peacock feathers, he’s eating them.

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When a player is picked first, it says, this is the position we need most. This is the player we spent the most time investigating, watching game film and focusing on. This is the player our organization believes is the best fit for the team. This is, The One.

In today’s hurry up and win now world, The One, isn’t going to be treated like everyone else. He isn’t going to be allowed to slowly develop and ride the bench for a year or two. The expectations for his success from the team, fans and city are going to be much higher than a player picked seventh.

That track moving faster than the others? That’s the one he’s on. It doesn’t matter what his coaches or general manager or owner say to the media, he’s on it. That track is their livelihood, their reputations, and their hopes and dreams of hoisting the Lombardi.The One, carries the burden of knowing he has the weight of millions of fans riding on his shoulders. The jobs of his teammates and coaches. No position carries that weight like the quarterback. He’s the guy who’s at the facility at 0500 and doesn’t leave until 2100. He’s the guy with the playbook pierced to his hand. He’s the guy who has coaches firing questions at him while he’s trying to do his job. He’s the guy with the look. The one that isn’t quite there because all he’s seeing is Xs and Os. If he blows it, it will set his franchise back years. Since 2000, it’s tough to find a winning organization who missed on their 1st quarterback pick. Who bounced back within a year or two. We did because Elway quickly erased the mistake by bringing in a first pick and Super Bowl winner. You want a winning team? You have a successful quarterback. You want a successful quarterback? You draft him early. Outside of one guy, drafted 16 years ago, there are no elite passers taken past the third round. Heck, one could argue that no franchise quarterback has been taken past the third. 19 current starting quarterbacks were taken in the first. This century, three out of four repeat Super Bowl winners were taken first. Five have gone. Owners, general managers and head coaches know this. When they pick a quarterback first, they know their odds of going to, winning and repeating are higher with a first pick. When you know this, you don’t build your team around a 7th round pick, no matter how good he looks in practice. Your marketing department isn’t spending millions promoting your 5th round quarterback. The NFL apparel unit isn’t selling out of seventh round quarterback jerseys. The 24-hour news stations aren’t showing college highlight reels of the guys taken in the seventh. All eyes are on those 1’s. The days of some obscure quarterback taken down in the bowels of the draft, who is the face of a franchise, are gone. It’s now the age of the Newtons, Rodgers, Roethlisbergers, Lucks, Bridgewaters, Bortles, Winstons. Goffs, Wentzes, Lynches. Anyone see a Brandon Doughty rookie card? While Trevor Siemian, whom I really like, may be the feel good story right now, he’s not auditioning to be, The Guy, on our

team. He’s auditioning to be the guy on a team that missed. Like the Jets. The Texans. The Browns. Sanchez knows this more than most. He was the “miss”.

John Elway isn’t going to stake his reputation and that of the Broncos, on a one and then stash him on the bench any longer than he has to. Kubiak is going to push all three quarterbacks to be the best they can be, but only one is being groomed to be, The One. Quarterbacks will get hurt, you better have a quality back-up ready.

It is in the best interests of the team to have three quarterbacks who all know the system and are ready to play, but to think this is a real competition where any of three will be, The Guy, isn’t realistic. There’s too much to lose, besides a game, in gambling away your One. The chances of the equal split reps continuing after this OTA period, is slim to none.

Repetitions with the first team will become a premium and a needed necessity to get Lynch ready. That’s where we’re heading. The third guy on the totem pole will be revealed the next time we see them. Barring catastrophe, his time will be spent with the scout team. That guy won’t be wearing a #12.

At this time, too many factors exist to accurately pick the Week 1 starter, but you can bet Lynch will be in the running and taking snaps with the first team. To think he won’t be, is to deny NFL history, egos, money and rings. Paxton Lynch may not have “Neo” on his jersey, but make no mistake, he’s wearing a leather duster and cool shades.

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