Siemian beats out Sanchez, named Broncos starting quarterback

It’s the kid, Trevor Siemian, and not the veteran, Mark Sanchez, who’ll take the first regular season snaps for the Denver Broncos when the team opens its season against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 8.

Head coach Gary Kubiak informed his team Monday morning of the decision to go with Siemian over Sanchez and rookie Paxton Lynch as they began a week of practice ahead of Denver’s final preseason tilt against the Arizona Cardinals.

“I think he’s earned the right to be our guy. That’s what I told the team this morning,” Kubiak said. When I go back and I look at the body of work throughout the course of the offseason — I watch training camp and throughout the preseason, and how far he’s come. I watch how much he’s improved, in my opinion, the grasp that he has on what we’re doing. ”

Siemian seemingly cemented the starting role with his performance Saturday night in the Broncos’ “dress rehearsal” against the Los Angeles Rams, going 10-of-17 for 122 yards, one interception, and one touchdown.

The young quarterback said he thought he earned the role by staying within himself, taking day-to-day, and trying to be a good teammate.

“I’m really fortunate in the sense that I got a chance to get some pretty good coaching while I’m here, so I just tried to take as much coaching the whole way through and take it day-by-day,” Siemian said.

Sanchez did not play after saying the previous week that he “squandered” a chance to make a push for the job against the San Francisco 49ers in preseason Week 2.

The move comes not totally as a surprise, despite the prevailing sentiment that Sanchez had the edge over Siemian heading into training camp. The veteran couldn’t quite pull away from the second-year pro and started just the first game of the preseason against the Chicago Bears.

Sanchez has the best QB rating (85.3) and completion percentage (66.7) of all three Broncos quarterbacks, but he also owns the most turnovers (3), including two red zone fumbles against the 49ers to end potential scoring drives.

Through his first three preseason games, Sieman’s amassed 285 passing yards on 27-of-43 passing for a touchdown and two picks.

Whether Sanchez makes the Broncos final roster remains to be seen, though two factors seem to be working against him. He’s due $4.5 million in 2016, a large sum for a potential third-string quarterback, and the Broncos would surrender a seventh-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles only if Sanchez makes the roster.