WHY: Denver Broncos LEVERAGE With 3 QBs On Roster, Jonathon Cooper Lands on Exempt List

The Broncos keep three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster.

Bo Nix, the starter, unquestioned.

Jarrett Stidham won the QB2 job.

And Sam Ellinger is the third quarterback on the roster.

Played really well in the Broncos' preseason win on Friday against the Minnesota Vikings.

But it was kind of trending this way based on the vibes of how practice was unfolding last week.

And certainly what we saw in the game.

I predicted it here on this very show.

Talking about how the Broncos will likely start Stidham for a series or two.

And then Ellinger will play the rest of the way.

They did that in 2024 with Zach Wilson.

It played out almost the exact same way.

Now, here's why I think there's a benefit to this in the regular season for the Broncos specifically, and has nothing to do with their current situation or anything that impacts them as a team.

I think the reality is very simple.

If Bo Nix were to ever go down, that's worst case scenario.

Any team, 31 other teams out there, lose your starting quarterback, worst case scenario.

If these guys who are your backups or your other guys were good enough to be starters, they'd be starting for an NFL team somewhere.

That's not the case.

So if a backup has to step in, generally, it's not a great thing here.

But the reason that Denver's carrying three is you have two guys on this roster right now that know this system inside and out.

Sean Payton's offense, the new blended Davis Webb offensive coordinator has kind of put on this.

They understand the language.

They understand what needs to happen.

And the event of an injury, I mean, now, you know, you would have the next guy up throttled into the starting lineup, and then your other guy would be the backup to said quarterback.

Some teams like to get unique.