Emmanuel Sanders is a great receiver. He’s also smart.
With a full-blown, 50-50 quarterback competition in Denver, Sanders knows not to pick a horse for fear of saddling up with the wrong one.
“It really doesn’t matter to me, honestly,” Sanders told reporters on Monday, specifically in response to the question of whether he minds the competition going down to the wire. “It’s about who is going to be the right guy. In due time, we will figure that out. That guy will show up and make the necessary plays. The coaching staff and [John] Elway and all those guys there will make the decisions. Obviously I’ve just got to do my job. The ball is going to come, I got to catch it and make plays.”
Still, Sanders was willing to admit that a benefit arises from knowing whether No. 1 quarterback will be sooner rather than later.
“Obviously the earlier that we can get clarity, the better,” Sanders said. “But do we want to rush that process? No. We don’t want to rush that process. We want to have the right guy. I know those two guys are excited. I’m excited to see because competition brings out the best in you. We’re going to see who it brings out the best in. It’s going to be pretty cool to see.”
And then came the point in the media availability where Sanders made sure he sucked up equally to Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.
“I think both of them have what you look for,” Sanders said. “They both have the confidence, they both have a presence and they both can throw the ball. They can make every single throw: deep ball, short, out, all across the field. I think we’re sitting here right now in a good position with two guys that are hungry, that want to be starters and that want to be franchise quarterbacks that believe in themselves. . . .
“It’s crazy because it feels like every year it’s a question about the quarterback, the quarterback, the quarterback. Every year it’s the same answer. The best guy is going to show. Obviously we want a guy that can take us all the way to the Super Bowl and get us into the playoffs since we missed that last year. We’re going to see who that guy is.”
Yes we will. And the sooner that guy stands out, the better the Broncos offense will be.