Schlereth: Flacco responsible for filling leadership void left by Manning depature
Mar 25, 2019, 8:15 AM | Updated: 8:25 am
Among the many interesting things to come out of the interview between “The Drive” co-host DMac and Denver Broncos star Emmanuel Sanders on Thursday, says Mark Schlereth, is the wide receiver’s thoughts on replacing Peyton Manning.
Sanders said that the quarterback is the “main position” on the football field and “determines the outcome of games,” and the Broncos have “yet to find us a quarterback” since the departure of Manning following a victory in Super Bowl 50.
“We had Peyton Manning as a quarterback, one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He had this city on fire. He (led) the No. 1 offense in the NFL for a very long time, a great leader in the locker room, and we have yet to replace him,” Sanders said.
The “Schlereth and Evans” co-host, however, said of those thoughts on the Broncos quarterback, Sanders hit on what he believes the club has lacked over the past few seasons: leadership.
“You’ve replaced the quarterback. You had Case Keenum. You had Trevor Siemian. You had Paxton Lynch. I mean, you’ve replaced the position, not with great players but with bodies,” Schlereth said. “But, to me, the bigger factor here is you haven’t replaced the leadership.”
Schlereth said Manning, who was so dominant in terms of leadership, left a void because other leaders weren’t developed under him during his time in Denver.
“I mean, when that guy is so dominant, you can’t replace that. That guy leaves and nobody else steps up. And that, to me, has been a bigger issue than the guy pulling the trigger,” Schlereth said. “It’s the fact that you don’t have people that are really holding each other accountable the way they should or the way that Peyton Manning did.”
And coming into that quarterback role in Denver, Schlereth said taking up that leadership cause is Joe Flacco’s biggest responsibility.
“That, to me, is Joe Flacco’s biggest responsibility coming in here, setting a tone, setting a culture, and making sure that everybody adheres to that,” Schlereth said.
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