What Broncos Should Expect from Starting QB Favorite Mark Sanchez

The quarterback situation for the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos is still unsettled.

Currently, it's a three-way battle between Mark Sanchez, who Denver acquired this offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles; Trevor Siemian, a second-year seventh-round pick; and Paxton Lynch, a rookie. Can head coach Gary Kubiak trust any of the three?

In the 2015 preseason, Siemian didn't look promising, displaying little upside in either arm strength or efficiency. Sanchez is the veteran, and that experience carries clout with his new teammates.

In an interview on Sirius XM's Late Hits with Tom Pelissero and Bill Polian, Broncos interior defensive lineman Sylvester Williams said Kubiak let the team know he's leaning toward Sanchez as the starter: "I think Coach Kub kind of let us know he's going to go with Mark and give Mark the opportunity to see what he can do and then go on from there." That said, Williams noted the team was splitting first-team reps in practice.

What would it look like with Sanchez under center? The three-game sample of his 2015 season tells a clear story.

Sanchez wasn't the Eagles starter last year, but he did play a significant amount of time against the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions, all losses for Philadelphia. In his two starts, against the Buccaneers and Lions, Philadelphia lost by a combined score of 90-31.

But to fairly unbox who Sanchez would be in Denver, you need to dive into his film.

The Broncos' best option going into 2016 is to build around their running game and defense. That shouldn't be hard considering Peyton Manning, despite throwing nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions in the regular season, didn't hold back the team's title run.

Off play action, Sanchez threw his best passes, but to put fear in the hearts of linebackers on play action, you need to run the ball well, which is also predicated on the score. It sounds cliche, but the best role for Sanchez would be as a game manager who shouldn't be trusted to dig the team out of a hole.

One reason for this is his inconsistent ball placement. While he does well throwing into the intermediate range for crossing patterns—the Eagles ran many Hi-Lo concepts because of that—he still has good and bad film from the same plays during the same game.

Interior pressure also rattles him.

His mechanics, like closing his shoulder before the pass and the direction his drive foot is pointing during the pass, go downhill fast. It leads to sporadic placement and lofted balls that can become interceptions.

Be it Kubiak, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison or quarterback coach Greg Knapp, their main goal with Sanchez this summer should be cleaning up his mechanics when he's in a compromised position.

In today's NFL, every inch of the field can be efficiently attacked due to rule changes. Numbers games—counts of defenders on the left, right and inside the tackle box—should dictate plays at the line of scrimmage on early downs. If Sanchez has that option under Kubiak, like Manning did, his quietly strong running ability will come in handy.

Sanchez could run inside zone options against six-man boxes in 2016 should teams decide to cover four of his wideouts with five defensive backs.

In some ways, Sanchez quarterbacks like the New York Giants' Eli Manning. He will get to the right read and has flashes of brilliance, but his inconsistencies make him a streaky passer, and Sanchez is a less polished quarterback than Manning.

Manning's career narrative runs along the lines of "I can't believe he won two Super Bowls," while Sanchez's is "I can't believe he went to two AFC Championship Games." Again, Sanchez is a lesser Manning.

Sanchez isn't a safe, consistent quarterback, but with the personnel he has around him, he has a chance to lead the team to the playoffs.

The big question is if Kubiak and Co. can tighten Sanchez up to tally a third AFC Championship trip on his resume or even add Sanchez to the list of quarterbacks like Manning and Joe Flacco, who turned a winter hot streak into big rings and even bigger contracts.

The blueprint, positives and negatives are clear. It's up to the coaching staff and the former USC Trojan to execute and refine.