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Rookie to start at QB tomorrow

The Broncos will be turning to Tom Brandstater tomorrow night for their last preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals (7 o'clock Mountain, CBS).

ESPN.com has a lovely Associated Press article up about it, which you should read. The scariest part of all is when Coach McD suggests he can’t say for sure whether Kyle Orton or Chris Simms will be back for the season opener.

I would just say that in the last preseason game, even The Brand-Stater (“Pepsi!” “Timex!”) was moving the offense down the field better than Mr. Orton. I don’t actually think the rookie’s a good option this year, or maybe ever, but it would certainly be interesting if he can manage a second-straight good pretend game. His inability to offer any explanation for playing all right in the last game makes me think he won’t do it again, but you never know. Not to beat a dead horse, but I just hope this doesn’t end up like the Jarrious Jackson backing up Brian Griese years, where the preseason was more fun to watch than the regular season because at least then we had quarterbacks who tried to make plays. Not that I’m suggesting that Orton needs to try to make plays any more than he already does. I don’t love watching my team throw picks or anything.

At this point in the post I get sidetracked and swing over to the Denver Post sports section, which also talks about the move. Their article starts by talking about Brandstater’s first car (Chevy!) and then basically abandons whatever narrative premise that was supposed to lead to. I don’t know, kinda weird. Anyway, guess I’m sort of looking forward to seeing what the young man can do.

Comments

blaine said…
It looks like Brandstater actually has the best arm of the three QBs on the roster, not that that means anything really. Jeff George had a rocket for an arm and wasn't successful. But, it does look like he could have some potential no?

What did you think about Favre's crack-back block on Monday? I was surprised you didn't post on that.
11:16 AM
Mike said…
I mentioned Favre's block on Twitter and linked to a blog post I basically agree with. As a fan of the Broncos O-line can I call any block dirty, though?

I read that as "Jeff Garcia" the first time and I was like, geez, that's kind of harsh. I think Brandstater has a decent arm, sure, but I always remember a YouTube clip I linked to a few months ago of his college highlights. Look at 20 seconds in; bad accuracy, blows a much larger potential gain. Struck me as a guy who might be fine for college but not long for this league, but like I said you never know.
11:49 AM
John said…
This is just typical of our QB situation. But at this point we might as well give the guy a chance, if only to prove that even a sixth-rounder with an embarrassing underthrow on YouTube can outplay McDaniels' choice at QB.
12:01 PM
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