Locked On Broncos Hit - Quick Takes on the Denver Broncos
Sep 4, 2026 · 8 min · 13 segments
Jarrett Stidham is officially Bo Nix’s backup for the Denver Broncos, but Sam Ehlinger’s path to the job may already be taking shape. Cody Roark breaks down Sean Payton’s confirmation, why Denver…
Cody RoarkHost
And then later I'll tell you why Sam Ellinger, even if he's the number three quarterback, could be the backup for Bo going into next season.
And the assumption was with Denver keeping three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, okay, who's the backup? Who's going to be the main guy behind Bo Nix? Now, if none of us in the media asked Sean about it, the ideal assumption would be, hey, we have two quarterbacks on our roster.
Now, game day would have been a little bit different because you have to designate one of those guys as inactive.
And of course, If Jarrett was inactive, then it would assume that maybe Sam is the backup quarterback.
We didn't have to wait till Monday Night Football to get that answer here from Sean Payton.
He kind of played it off initially when asked, and then a follow-up question was had asking him directly, is Jarrett the number two guy? And Sean said, I knew that was coming.
Yes, right now that would seem to be the pecking order there in terms of where Jarrett is at.
So the Broncos rolling into this upcoming season, very similar to what they had last year, except Ellinger wasn't on the 53-man roster at the start of the season.
He did eventually get brought up throughout the year, but he was a practice squad elevation guy primarily to the game day roster, and then he would be an inactive emergency number three quarterback.
But when you have three of these guys here, a lot of people in Broncos country are debating, should Sam Ellinger have been the number two quarterback here? I think the Broncos are going to go with the experience factor of what Jarrett Stidham has, and I think you can make valid arguments.
Sam might have a more athletic profile than Jarrett, but a little bit more sporadic, a little bit more of a gunslinger.
I think the real scenario here is if the Broncos were to lose Bo Nix for any amount of time, doesn't matter who comes in as the quarterback.
So if Ellinger is not the backup this year, what does he have to do to be that guy next year? I'll tell you.
And then later I'll tell you why Sam Ellinger, even if he's the number three quarterback, could be the backup for Bo going into next season.
And the assumption was with Denver keeping three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, okay, who's the backup? Who's going to be the main guy behind Bo Nix? Now, if none of us in the media asked Sean about it, the ideal assumption would be, hey, we have two quarterbacks on our roster.
Now, game day would have been a little bit different because you have to designate one of those guys as inactive.
And of course, If Jarrett was inactive, then it would assume that maybe Sam is the backup quarterback.
We didn't have to wait till Monday Night Football to get that answer here from Sean Payton.
He kind of played it off initially when asked, and then a follow-up question was had asking him directly, is Jarrett the number two guy? And Sean said, I knew that was coming.
Yes, right now that would seem to be the pecking order there in terms of where Jarrett is at.
So the Broncos rolling into this upcoming season, very similar to what they had last year, except Ellinger wasn't on the 53-man roster at the start of the season.
He did eventually get brought up throughout the year, but he was a practice squad elevation guy primarily to the game day roster, and then he would be an inactive emergency number three quarterback.
But when you have three of these guys here, a lot of people in Broncos country are debating, should Sam Ellinger have been the number two quarterback here? I think the Broncos are going to go with the experience factor of what Jarrett Stidham has, and I think you can make valid arguments.
Sam might have a more athletic profile than Jarrett, but a little bit more sporadic, a little bit more of a gunslinger.
I think the real scenario here is if the Broncos were to lose Bo Nix for any amount of time, doesn't matter who comes in as the quarterback.
So if Ellinger is not the backup this year, what does he have to do to be that guy next year? I'll tell you.
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