You can’t analyze the Denver Broncos’ quarterback situation without first considering how they want to play.

In order for the Broncos to win, certainly early in the season, they have to play a certain way. They have to run the ball and play the same great defense they did last season. Ideally, they want to stay on schedule and in manageable down-and-distance situations, using the run game to do so, and even in difficult third-and-long situations they won’t ask their quarterback to do too much. Third-and-long could end up as a screen to a running back or a bubble screen to a receiver. If they have to punt, that’s OK because they have a really good defense. The Broncos will assume the score will be the same when they get the ball back.

They won’t ask their quarterback to make difficult throws, no matter who ends up being the starter.

Given all of that, I prefer Trevor Siemian to Mark Sanchez at this point (and you can make an argument for rookie first-round pick Paxton Lynch, who we’ll get to in a bit). I’d rather see what Siemian can bring to the table, because I know what Sanchez brings to the table at this point in his career.

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Others may disagree, but I think Siemian is a better throwing talent than Sanchez. Not by a lot, but he’s a different type of quarterback. He’s more of a statuesque drop-back quarterback. That’s not Sanchez. And Sanchez is a veteran with a clearly defined track record of inconsistency and questionable decision making, things that have kept him from living up to his draft status.

Siemian is inexperienced (he hasn’t thrown an NFL pass and didn’t have a ton of college experience either), but Broncos coach Gary Kubiak’s comments from the past few months indicate he feels Siemian has a good grasp of what they’re doing and he’ll run the offense they want to run. Through two preseason games, for whatever it’s worth, there have been a lot of straight drop-back passes with Siemian. That’s his strength. And he looks the part of an NFL quarterback.

The Broncos won’t have an unrealistic expectation of their quarterback. Nobody is going to throw for 300 yards a game on this team, unless something goes awry. If they play the way they want to, against the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 a good line for Siemian would be something like 15 of 24 for 151 yards and no interceptions. That’s who they want him to be.

But the Broncos haven’t officially decided on a starter yet, so let’s break down what all three have done to this point:

TREVOR SIEMIAN

What we’ve seen from Siemian and the Broncos offensive plan with him this preseason is what you’ll probably see in the regular season: A lot of quick passes — three- and five-step drops, plant and make a timed throw. They’ve made it easier for Siemian by cutting the field in half for him. He’s been asked to make front-side, half-field reads. He’s a distributor and an orchestrator, and if he’s the starter the Broncos will need the run game to be the foundation of the offense.

Here’s a play I liked from Siemian. In the Broncos’ first preseason game, the call was a skinny post to Cody Latimer, to Siemian’s right. When there’s a safety in the middle of the field on this play, the quarterback is responsible for the safety — you can’t bring him over to the skinny post with your eyes. You have to freeze him where he is with your eyes. Then you trust the receiver will run his route properly, you hit your back foot and deliver. Siemian kept his head in the middle of the field until his third step, which kept the safety where he was. Then he hit Latimer with precise ball placement for 17 yards. This is a nice play.

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