It's been a tumultuous season for the Denver Broncos as they try to move on from the Peyton Manning era, and now the man they spent a first round pick on to replace him, Paxton Lynch, is finally getting his shot.
After winning 12 or more games in four straight seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances and one championship, Denver failed to reach the postseason in 2016 with a 9-7 record.
They've already matched their loss total from a year ago, dropping six straight games to fall to 3-7.
Trevor Siemian started the season hot, but as the offense crumbled with him under center, the team brought back Brock Osweiler in hopes of kick-starting their scoring. They've continued to sputter under his watch, and their once dominant defense is no longer capable of carrying them. They're currently 24th in points for at 18.3 per game and 27th in points against at 25.9 per game (those numbers have declined considerably the last few weeks).
While an official announcement isn't expected to come until tomorrow, Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk reports that the Broncos have decided to replace Osweiler with Lynch for their Week 12 matchup against the Oakland Raiders. It will be the third start of his career after the 2016 26th overall pick got the nod twice as a rookie, going 49-of-83 for 497 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
At the very least, vice president/general manager John Elway and head coach Vance Joseph will get to see if Lynch is equipped for the starting job heading into 2018. Given the current direction of the team over the last month and a half, there's a chance they'll have a high draft pick and an opportunity to select another QB to take the reins of the franchise moving forward if they don't have confidence in Lynch.