Timeline: How the Broncos went from Manning to Sanchez to Siemian

The Denver Broncos named second-year pro Trevor Siemian the team’s starting quarterback heading into the regular season, capping a competition truly kicked off with the retirement of Peyton Manning in early March.

Veteran Mark Sanchez was brought in just four days after Manning’s announcement, and two days after the supposed future franhicse quarterback Brock Osweiler left for the Houston Texans in free agency.

Since that day, it had been the prevailing thought among many that it was Sanchez’s job to lose, and that if there was a true quarterback competition he’d likely be the leader in the clubhouse.

However, Siemian, who’s taken just one NFL regular season snap (a kneel down), will be the go-to man in the huddle next Thursday night.

Here’s  how it played out:

March 7 — Peyton Manning announces his retirement from the NFL.

March 9 — Brock Osweiler signs $72 million deal with the Houston Texans

March 11 — Mark Sanchez traded to the Denver Broncos from the Philadelphia Eagles for a seventh-round draft pick.

March 15 — Broncos general manager John Elway on the Broncos quarterback situation: “I think we’re excited about having Mark (Sanchez). His track record and what he’s done, I think that he’s very capable. He’s the first step in the process. With Brock, we went through that process and ultimately it came down to what Brock wanted to do and he made that decision of what he thought was best for him, which was Houston. We respect that and we’ll move on and continue to put the best team we can together.”

April 28 — Paxton Lynch selected in the first round (26th overall) by the Denver Broncos.

May 16 — Mark Sanchez undergoes thumb surgery on his non-throwing hand.

June 14 — Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak on the offseason quarterback competition: “I think they’re looking each other right in the eye throughout the whole course of the offseason as far who is ahead and who is one or two. I think those two guys are right there with each other. I think it’s a very competitive situation. They’re obviously ahead of our young guy just from a mental standpoint right now. I think that those two guys have been very good throughout the course of (the offseason).”

July 27 — Gary Kubiak on managing quarterback reps in training camp: “That is a tricky situation. We’ll see. The bottom line is we’re going to give them equal reps. It’s an open competition. We’ve laid out our plan of how we’re going to rep them so that we’re getting an equal look at all of them.”

August 11 — Preseason Game 1 at Chicago Bears

Mark Sanchez starts at quarterback against the Bears, engineering a scoring drive ending in a touchdown toss to Demaryius Thomas to start the game. He also throws an interception and goes 10-of-13 for 99 yards.

Trevor Siemian goes 7-of-12 for 88 yards and no touchdowns nor interceptions.

Paxton Lynch goes 6-of-7 for 74 yards and no touchdowns nor interceptions.

Said Gary Kubiak after the game: “Obviously we came out and we threw the ball around. It was something we wanted to do. I wanted to watch how they handled things, their decision making. I thought Mark was really good, just has that one mistake with the football that we’re continuing to try to correct. He knows that. I thought Trevor was good. He put some deep balls in some good place. There were some plays we should’ve made for him. And Paxton, for the first time out, I thought he was solid. His reactions were good. Obviously he got sacked a few times. But I think as a group it was a good step. I think they went out and played as they’re practicing. They’ve been pretty solid, so we’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

August 18 — Trevor Siemian named starter against 49ers in preseason Week 2

August 20 — Preseason Game 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers

Trevor Siemian starts against the 49ers, engineering a scoring drive early but also throwing a pick six.

Sanchez also engineers a scoring drive in his first action, leading the offense down the field for a field goal. He also fumbles twice in the red zone with less than a minute left in the first half to blow two scoring changes.

Said Gary Kubiak after the game: “We made too many mistakes, obviously. They (Trevor Siemian and Mark Sanchez) both did some good things. I think they were both 10-of-14. That’s throwing the ball for a good percentage, but you have to protect the football. Obviously we have to hang on to the good things and find a way to protect the ball for the team. That’s what we need to focus on right now more than anything.”

Said Sanchez after the game: “I just squandered a great opportunity to separate myself and I put the team in a bad situation. There’s no excuse for that, poor, poor quarterback play.”

August 22 — Trevor Siemian named starter against Rams in preseason Week 3

August 27 — Preseason Game 3 vs. Los Angeles Bears

Trevor Siemian plays the entire first half, throwing for one touchdown and one interception.

Paxton Lynch plays the entire second half, going 6-of-13 for just 57 yards.

Sanchez does not see the field.

Said Gary Kubiak after the game: “I obviously thought about it all week long. I sat down with Mark (Sanchez) this morning before breakfast, and I told him, I said, ‘Mark, I’m going to play Paxton (Lynch) second and if things go the way I think, if Trevor (Siemian) plays as long as I think he’s going to play, I’m not going to put you in there with four, five minutes left in the game.’ Bottom line, I have a lot to go off of on Mark. He’s played a lot of football. I needed to see these two other kids play again. That was a decision I made, and I talked to Mark about it this morning. I explained it to him. He was great. We went from there.”

August 29 — Trevor Siemian named starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos heading into the regular season on Sept. 8 against the Carolina Panthers.

Gary Kubiak on Mark Sanchez through the offseason and training camp: “Mark’s done a great job throughout the course of the offseason and training camp. We’re in the process of putting this football team together right now, so that’s going to take place over the next three or four days. Mark has done a hell of a job.”

Kubiak on naming Siemian the starting quarterback: “I think he’s earned the right to be our guy. That’s what I told the team this morning. 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. To me, he’s earned the right to be our starter. I’m very proud of him. It’s not that the other guys didn’t do something, it’s really more about how far Trevor has come as a player.”

Siemian on what he thinks earned him the starting role: “I just tried to stay within myself, be myself day-in and day-out, be the best teammate that I can be and learned as much I could. 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.”