Why the Broncos chose Orton

Over the weekend, the Denver Broncos and new head coach Josh McDaniels named quarterback Kyle Orton the starter going into training camp. Today, I want to discuss why the Broncos made the move so early and why they chose Orton.

The Winner By Default

It’s safe to say the Broncos had this planned all along.

APOrton is the choice of the Broncos to run Josh McDaniels' offense.

This offseason, Orton came from Chicago as part of the deal that sent former starting quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears. Sure, they signed Chris Simms — someone I think could play a role in 2009 — but this was Orton’s job the day the trade went down.

Because as much as we want to believe there was a highly contested competition going on in Denver this spring, no one can beat out someone when they’re running around in shorts at OTAs or mini-camp — even at the quarterback position.

The Broncos preached to the media that this was a true competition, but let’s be honest. If we look across the league at the various QB battles that will go on this summer at camp, we’d be lying to ourselves if we didn’t agree that there was a favorite heading in.

Orton was that guy in Denver -- just as he was last summer here in Chicago when he supposedly competed against Rex Grossman in a competition that took all but three snaps to decide.

One thing we have to understand is that Orton was targeted by the Broncos when they pulled off the trade. Simms is on the roster for insurance purposes (and injury help), but when the Broncos line up for the first play of team drills in training camp, Orton will be the man.

And doing this early has some positive aspects, such as giving the offense a quarterback and telling the team that this is the guy they’re going with. Now they can concentrate on playing football instead of wondering who their quarterback will be.

But how does this move reflect on McDaniels and the Broncos?

The Right Choice

We don’t know what McDaniels and his coaching staff look for in a quarterback.

Yes, we can analyze his offensive schemes and see what he did with Matt Cassel in New England during the 2008 season, but to understand the parameters they have in Denver for a QB, you have to be in those meeting rooms.

APSimms will serve in a backup role to Orton this season.

And because of that, we can’t doubt the Broncos for choosing Orton this early, based purely on the fact that no one has seen him play in a real game in that offensive system.

Like I said, if you win a competition in the spring and early summer, it means there was no competition to begin with. It was planned.

But I still think we need to keep an eye on Simms when training camp rolls around — especially in the preseason games.

Now, we have to agree that this is Orton’s job to lose. And by saying that, we have to understand that if Orton doesn’t start for the Broncos on opening day, it would be because of injury or a colossal collapse in training camp.

Simms hasn’t played meaningful minutes at the quarterback position in this league for quite some time, and that was a knock against him when the Broncos signed him this offseason, but I think we can all now see that this move was purely made as an insurance package.

Allow Simms to learn the new offensive system under McDaniels throughout the spring and then see what he can do with it during camp and preseason games when he faces a real rush and takes a real hit.

If he shows that he still has the ability to move the offense down the field in August, well, then the Broncos suddenly have the best of both worlds in their minds — a starting quarterback in Orton, plus a former starting quarterback who’s on their roster for back-up money.

We all know the Broncos took a huge leap of faith when they traded away Cutler, but for some reason, McDaniels and his staff believed they could win and score points in their offense with Orton under center — or rather, in the shotgun.

Will it work? Is Orton the right choice for this job? Did they make the call too soon without giving Simms a true opportunity to show this franchise what he can do in a real football setting — in August?

Those questions and the validity of McDaniels’ offensive scheme will be tested in camp and put on the big stage in September.

Until then, we’ll just keep asking questions — and wait to make our own judgments.

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