Can Brock Osweiler be the answer at quarterback for Denver Broncos?

Lindsay H. Jones | USA TODAY Sports

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DENVER – There’s a familiar sight at the Denver Broncos training facility, every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Long after the rest of the Broncos offensive players have retreated to the locker room, Brock Osweiler remains on the field, throwing passes to a Broncos equipment staffer – the type of work he needs to supplement the limited practice time he gets while backing up Peyton Manning.

The NFL is about to see if this extra work has prepared Osweiler to be an NFL starter. Osweiler will move into the starting role for at least Week 11's game against the Chicago Bears while Manning recovers from a torn plantar fascia in his right foot.

For three-and a half seasons, Osweiler has been nothing but a dutiful backup, and even Sunday night, after he replaced Manning in the third quarter and led two touchdown drives against the Chiefs, Osweiler said the right things about supporting Manning and not expecting to be the starter.

But what he showed in his quarter and a half against the Chiefs – his first real, non-garbage time action in his career – is that right now he’s the better quarterback for the Broncos, with an aging Manning ailing. And with Osweiler, a second-round pick out of Arizona State in 2012, in the final year of his rookie contract, it’s time for the Broncos to truly find out what Osweiler can do.

“I think there is nothing that replaces game reps and obviously tonight I got a lot of live game reps against a great defense. So, did my confidence go up? Yes. Do I feel more comfortable out there? Yes. I think that is something that happens naturally the more game reps you get,” Osweiler said Sunday night.

Not only is he far younger (Osweiler will turn 25 this week), but he’s seems to be a far better fit athletically for Kubiak’s offense. Though Osweiler was sacked three times on Sunday, he displayed his mobility multiple times, throwing on the run or scrambling and sliding. The naked bootleg, a longtime staple of the Kubiak offense, should be a strength for Osweiler, where it was a weakness for Manning, and Osweiler’s arm strength far exceeds Manning’s at this point, which could open up a different range of down-field pass options.

“With no disrespect to Peyton Manning, you've got a young, able-bodied quarterback in Brock that really can do anything you want,” former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who played in Kubiak’s system, told USA TODAY Sports. “When we see him go in there, we're going to see not what limitations Peyton has, but just how the offense has actually been limited due to Peyton's style of play.”

Of course, the issue with playing with Osweiler is that he’s unproven beyond his extensive work in the preseason, the practice time he has with the starters on Wednesdays when Manning rests and his solo work after practices.

In games, we’ll likely see that Osweiler holds the ball longer than Manning and he can’t make the same adjustments at the line of scrimmage as Manning.

“I think Brock’s been waiting for an opportunity and when it came he had a stellar performance. How he was shaking the defenders off of him and creating plays with his legs, it was pretty awesome to see,” Emmanuel Sanders said.

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones