Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian is evolving at an astounding rate. At least according to the national NFL media narratives. The former Northwestern signal caller was named the Broncos QB1 on the same exact day that his alma mater had their season opening week press conference.
At that point, Siemian was still in the “who is this obscure guy?” category by the media, and NU fans were very excited about their season, as they were coming off 10 wins 2015. Then after weeks one and two, Northwestern looked really bad while Siemian was decent and looking good.
Then the Trevor Siemian talk shifted to the “game manager” cliche and Northwestern graduates made Denver the team that they’re rooting this season. Or you could just say that Trevor Siemian is their NFL team.
Now after a statistically impressive performance in week three, the motif of Siemian coverage has totally changed. The quarterback is doing things in Denver now that he rarely ever accomplished in Evanston.
As exciting for the NU community as his development is, it certainly sheds more spotlight on the case for NU to dismiss offensive coordinator Mick McCall. Fans have been clamoring for Pat Fitzgerald to dismiss McCall for years, but now it really looks like an open and shut case.
What Siemian is doing now, he didn’t show that during his college days.
Paxton Lynch, you’ll just have to wait in the wings for awhile now.
Here’s a sample of what NFL talking heads are saying about Trevor Siemian. From CBS Sports “NFL Monday QB”
Rich Gannon: “I am surprised and impressed with the job that he has done. He was nearly perfect rallying Denver for his first road win. He’s getting better and more comfortable each week… The accuracy. The anticipation. This guy is really making a name for himself in Denver.”
Boomer Esiason: “The thing we saw with the Denver Broncos last year is that they can win with a quarterback that is not going to make a lot of mistakes. Yesterday, he did not make mistakes… If he’s going to play like this, or 80 percent of what we saw yesterday, they are going to be really, really, really tough to beat. Because when you watch that defense and how much pressure they put on the opposing quarterbacks, if he can just do this (every game) – two touchdown passes and no interceptions – they’ll go undefeated. That’s how good this team is.”
Trent Green: “They can win another Super Bowl. They can be back-to-back champs if he continues to play like this… The important thing from yesterday’s game is the fact that he didn’t turn the ball over. The first two games he had the three interceptions… The thing that impressed me the most was his accuracy. The way that, under pressure and in tight situations, he maintained that accuracy.”
Steve Beuerlein: “The first two weeks when we were talking about Trevor Siemian, we were talking about how he was managing the game well. He wasn’t losing the game. He got a little bit careless with the football and had three turnovers. But in general, he was doing a good job as a game manager. Yesterday, Gary Kubiak let the guy play football. He played quarterback. He stepped up and made some big boy throws… They opened up the playbook and he stepped up and showed he can handle it.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.