DownSwinging.com

Normally, anyone would assume that NFL fans, no matter where they come from, would at least allow their quarterback to play a couple of downs in a regular season game before ridiculing his play. Unfortunately, new Denver Broncos quarterback, Kyle Orton, did not receive such a luxury from the Denver faithful during an organized team scrimmage last Thursday held in front of over 13,000 fans at Ivesco Field. According to a story from the Associated Press, it was during this glorified practice that they let Orton know what exactly they thought about his less-than-stellar play by raining boos upon him, as he threw untimely interceptions and missed wide-open receivers.

The regular season does not begin for another month and already Orton is receiving the Brian Griese and Jake Plummer treatment in Denver. No matter how poorly he might have played, it seems utterly ridiculous to boo Orton, or any player for that matter, before he even has the chance to make a negative impact upon the team’s record. At least wait until the Broncos’ home opener on September 20 against the Cleveland Browns to express your disapproval with Orton’s quarterbacking. By then, you might actually have some legitimate reasons to chase him out of town.

Though I do not approve of their poor form, I can certainly understand why Denver fans are not exactly being patient with these beginning stages of the Orton era in Denver. Last season, they watched Jay Cutler develop into one of the game’s better signal callers when he had a Pro Bowl season, and singlehandedly carried a Denver team that could not find a healthy body to carry the ball nor stop anyone on defense. Without him, Denver probably would have been a four to five-win team in 2008 at best. Then in a highly controversial trade that sent Cutler to the Chicago Bears, the Broncos basically swapped their strong-armed gunslinger for a conservative game-manager who does not have nearly the same big play potential. With this blockbuster trade, Denver gave the impression to its fans that the team would be better off without Cutler. However, I beg to differ.

Though the Broncos still have a terrific offensive line that yielded only 11 sacks last season and a solid receiving corps led by Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Tony Scheffler, it will be hard to believe that Denver’s aerial attack will be as explosive as it was last season. As a result, it might be harder to depend on Denver’s offense to put up as many points as it had to last year in order to offset a defense that still has a lot of questions.

Cutler was the Broncos’ most talented quarterback since John Elway and was bound to be Elway’s best replacement as their next long-term franchise quarterback. Now that Cutler is in the Windy City, Denver fans have to, once again, wait and see how another quarterback plays in the shadow of number 7 this upcoming season. It only seems natural for them to feel a tad bit frustrated after seeing their team get rid of a perfectly good solution to their team’s biggest concern for the past decade.

Other than Cutler, I do not think that there is another quarterback with more pressure to perform this upcoming season than Orton. Though it is unlikely that he will replicate the 4,500-yard, 25 touchdown passing season that Cutler had last year, Orton is still capable of having a very solid offensive season under center. However, if Denver’s offense sputters, he will no doubt become the scapegoat.