HEADLINES

Pritchard: Broncos 2017 QBs outperforming Keenum through 3 games

Sep 24, 2018, 1:34 PM

The Denver Broncos invested $36 million over two years, including $25 million guaranteed, in starting quarterback Case Keenum. And to date, said Mike Pritchard, they’ve not seen a return on that investment.

On Monday, the “Pritchard and Cecil” co-host said the “ugly fact” is that through three games Keenum has performed worse than the Broncos quarterbacks, specifically Trevor Siemian, did through the same amount of time last season.

“The Broncos, are they better than they were last year — that’s the question — at the quarterback position? Right now, through three games, Case Keenum has not played better than the quarterbacks they had last year,” Pritchard said.

Through three games, Keenum’s thrown 66 completions on 108 passes (61.11 percent) for 743 yards, three touchdowns, and five interceptions. At the same point last season, Siemian threw 63 completions on 100 passes (63 percent) for 709 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Also, in the same time frame, Siemian’s passer rating (87.5) ranked more than 15 points higher than Keenum’s (71.6).

Despite the difference in stats, however, Pritchard believes the leash is still long with Keenum and won’t get shorter until the Broncos are eliminated from playoff contention.

“The short leash, I think that doesn’t come into play until the season is over,” Pritchard said. “In other words, when you know you’re mathematically eliminated. You don’t have a shot at making the playoffs.”

But Pritchard said Keenum needs to respond in a way the Broncos need him to, which he hasn’t yet in 2018.

“Pressure, succumbing to the fact that you are the starter. I thought that this is what you wanted. I thought that this is everything that you wanted. But you’re not responding the way that the Broncos need you to respond,” Pritchard said.

“They invested in you. Where’s your investment back? I have not seen that yet to date from Case Keenum.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.

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