Kyle Orton: 5 Teams the Broncos QB Could Lead to a Division Title

Kyle Orton has been thrust into the spotlight as of recent, not because he was a free agent acquisition, not because he is a reality television star but of what is probably one of the most contested battles for a starting quarterback position ever.

Orton is on the hot seat, literally.

There is a big hype surrounding Denver Broncos first-round draft pick Tim Tebow and the chance of him being the Broncos starting quarterback.

As of now, Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback and Tim Tebow is his backup, but for how long? Orton has struggled during his time with the Broncos. He had to learn a completely new offensive system under then head coach Josh McDaniels after being traded from Chicago only to see McDaniels fired towards the end of the 2010 season.

Orton will now have to learn a completely new system under new head coach, John Fox

I believe that Kyle Orton may not be with the Denver Broncos after the week 8 trading deadline, and may find himself playing for another team.

Could that come back to bite the Broncos?

Will he lead another team to greatness?

There have been rumors that the Broncos are looking at shopping Orton, possibly to Miami Dolphins, however that hasn't been confirmed (but I wouldn't be surprised if it was true).

I have examined five teams that don't have a solid situation at quarterback and what the addition of Kyle Orton may do to benefit those teams.

San Francisco 49ers

When a quarterback problem quarterback comes to mind, the San Francisco 49ers are at the top of that list. The 49ers have had a problem finding a quarterback that can produce consistently since Jeff Garcia left.

After an extensive search, the San Francisco 49ers selected Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to be the 18th head coach of the franchise and the second from Stanford (legendary head coach Bill Walsh was also the head coach at Stanford).

Jim Harbaugh, who spent 13 season in the NFL as a quarterback as a reputation for mentoring young quarterbacks and turning football teams from losers into winners.

Harbaugh, got his first head coaching position at the University of San Diego, where in three seasons he took a Division I-AA team from perennial loser to back to back Pioneer League champions with consecutive 11-1 seasons.

Josh Johnson, a quarterback that Harbaugh recruited and mentored while at USD, would go on to throw 43 touchdowns and 1 interception during 2007 season.

With that amazing track record, Harbaugh was lured away from USD to be the next head coach at Stanford.

In just four seasons, Harbaugh took a team that hadn't been to a bowl game in nine seasons to the Sun Bowl (a loss to Oklahoma), a year later he would lead Stanford to a 11-1 final record in the Pac-10 and the Orange Bowl (a win over Virginia Tech).

Now with San Francisco, Harbaugh faces a difficult challenge. Turning former first-round draft pick quarterback Alex Smith into another success story. It is well known that Smith has struggled while playing with the 49ers and never lived up to the pre-draft hype.

With that being said, why don't the 49ers take a chance on Kyle Orton?

Orton is already a proven quarterback that shows he can win when given the right offensive targets. Under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Orton could become a great quarterback.

The 49ers should think about the future of their franchise and unfortunately it is not Alex Smith.

Given the right tools, Kyle Orton could return a storied franchise to its former glory.

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have been in dire search of quarterback since Kurt Warner retired, in 2010.

Matt Leinart, who was drafted to replace Warner, is no longer with the team and hasn't thrown a single pass while with the Houston Texans.

The Cardinals rotated between four quarterbacks last season and of those four, only John Skelton remained with the Cardinals. Anderson left for the chance to start in Carolina ahead of Jimmy Clausen and first-round draft pick Cam Newton.

Without a proven starter at the start of preseason, the Cardinals opted for a trade.

After a breakout year by veteran Michael Vick in Philadelphia, Kevin Kolb was relegated to being the back-up. Unhappy with his current status after starting the 2010 season as the Eagles starter and not looking forward to another year backing up Vick, the Eagles entertain trade offers.

The Eagles traded a disgruntled Kolb to Arizona in return for defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick.

In my mind the Eagles definitely came out on top in that trade.

However, Kolb isn't a proven starter. In his four seasons with the Eagles, Kolb has started seven games and of those seven games he has only won three. He is also injury prone.

Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton would be a perfect fit for the Cardinals, and the Cardinals could definitely use him.

Orton has been the Broncos ugly stepchild, since Denver traded up in the first-round of the 2010 NFL draft to select University of Florida quarterback (and Heisman Trophy winner) Tim Tebow.

With the popularity of Tebow constantly on the rise and Orton'[s stock falling faster than the Dow Jones.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks made some interesting moves in the offseason. The Seahawks acquired former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson during the first few days of free agency to replace free agent quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Hasselbeck had been the Seahawks quarterback since being traded by the Green Bay Packers (the team that drafted him) to Seattle. He became the Seahawks starting quarterback in 2003 after posting a solid 2002 season.

He also led the Seahawks to their first and only Super Bowl appearance.

Tarvaris Jackson isn't the future of the Seahawks franchise. While I understand the Seahawks are looking for a quarterback to lead their team, Jackson isn't it. Backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst has a better chance of being becoming the starting quarterback.

Enter Kyle Orton.

Orton would be a perfect fit for the Seattle Seahawks. He would have the chance to walk into the starting quarterback roll in Seattle. At this moment I believe that Orton would be a better fit for Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

Jackson has only started in 20 games, Orton has started in 61 games, so there is a significant advantage in games started. Kyle Orton has started in 15 games in three different seasons, while Jackson has only started 12 consecutive games in one season.

Kyle Orton would be able to provide a solid foundation for the Seahawks at the quarterback position, something they need badly.

A plus for Orton is the fact that Pete Carroll is the head coach of the Seahawks. While at the University of Southern California, he worked with and molded quarterbacks Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Mark Sanchez.

I believe that Orton would benefit from the offensive teachings of Pete Carroll.

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are in desperate need of a proven quarterback that can effectively lead a team and produce wins.

The Raiders have been the owners of a revolving door of quarterbacks (Kerry Collins, Andrew Walter, Daunte Culpepper, JaMarcus Russell, Charlie Frye, and Bruce Gradkowski) since Rich Gannon retired in 2005.

I think part of the Raiders' quarterback problems came in the form of the single biggest first-round draft pick bust known to man, JaMarcus Russell.

Russell, spent only three seasons with the Raiders and of those three seasons he only started 15 games once.

He only threw over 2,000 yards once in his brief NFL career, and that happened the same year he started 15 games.

None of those quarterbacks were able to produce a winning season. The closest the Raiders came to a winning season was the 2010 season in which they finished 8-8.

Before the 2010 season, the Raiders were the proud owners of seven straight consecutive losing seasons.

This is where Kyle Orton would provide stability.

Orton has an arm and a proven track record with both the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos. If given the proper offensive targets to throw to and a solid offensive line to protect him, I believe that Orton would be able to thrive and succeed in the Black Hole.

While Orton happens to play for a team in the same division as the Raiders, it would probably benefit the Raiders to look into possibly making a trade for Orton.

I mean how much worse can the Raiders get?

I think with Kyle Orton as quarterback for the Raiders, the silver and black may finally be able to start using thief famous "Commitment to Excellence" slogan once again.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys fans are probably not going to be incredibly happy with me after reading this slide, but it might shed some light on a problem in Big D.

In a town where the owner of a NFL franchise builds a $1.1 billion dollar football cathedral for his team to play in, you would expect his team to make the playoff or contend for a World Championship every season.

The Dallas Cowboys have made a few coaching changes over the last few years.

Tony Romo was the quarterback that went from zero to hero and then completely back to zero.

Romo, was the backup quarterback behind Drew Bledsoe to start the 2006 season, however and injury to Bledsoe allowed Romo to become the Cowboys #1 quarterback, he would eventually became the full time starter for the 2007 season.

After getting all the butterflies out of his system, Romo became the new face of the Dallas Cowboys something that hadn't been seen since the days of Troy Aikman.

However, Romo was plagued by the playoff bug.

The Cowboys have yet to make it out of the first-round of the playoffs since Romo became the full-time starting quarterback. Getting to the playoffs doesn't seem to be a problem for the Cowboys, winning once they get there is a different story.

With Romo being so wishy-washy, bringing to Kyle Orton could turn this franchise around.

Granted, Orton is no Troy Aikman. I don't believe any Dallas quarterback could live up to legacy that Aikman left behind, however I believe that Orton may be able to breathe some life back into a team that has become near death during the playoffs.

Orton, has been part of a team that won an NFC Championship, so he knows what it takes to win and win under pressure.

Under the teachings of Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, Orton could be the great quarterback that we may never end up seeing out of Tony Romo.

There had been concerns about Tony Romo's health, and his ability to play when games of significant meaning were on the line.