The question around Denver was, “Does the team need to bring in a veteran backup?”
Then, on Saturday night, the lights came on again.
With six minutes and 19 seconds to go in the first half of Denver’s preseason game against the Bears, No. 6 took to the field. By the fire in his eyes, though, you’d never know it was the preseason. It’s just one of the things his teammates love about him.
“I love the way he competes,” said tight end Matt LaCosse. “He’s fun to play with.”
On his first real drive as the backup quarterback, Kelly was perfect, capping off a seven-play, 44-yard drive with an absolute laser onto the sticky hands of Courtland Sutton in the end zone.
Can you say gamer?
When all was said and done on his night, Kelly finished 7-of-9 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown with a spiffy 145.4 passer rating. He led his team to 10 points on the night, and it could have been 13 had Vance Joseph been willing to let Brandon McManus attempt a 55-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Kelly’s only mistake on the night? Just missing Tim Patrick on a deep route down the right sideline.
So, do the Broncos need a to sign a veteran backup quarterback?
“F*** no,” one player told me in the locker room, almost disgusted I would suggest such a thing. “F*** no.”
Would you feel comfortable if—knock on wood—Case went down, and Kelly needed to start a game?
“With the way he’s playing right now, absolutely,” another player said. “We don’t need no vet.”
Here’s the fact of the matter, Kelly has the respect of his teammates, and he’s worked damn hard to earn that.
On Saturday night, a source told BSN Denver that if Kelly doesn’t walk into the building with Case Keenum in the morning, it’s because he got there first. At the end of the night—emphasis on night—Kelly and Keenum are also the last two to leave.
And there’s more.
“He would literally do anything for one of his teammates,” running back Phillip Lindsay said. “Whether you need a ride or if you need help with the playbook, he’s got your back… The first time I came in, he was the first one that I met. He went over the plays with me all the time. He is full of energy just like myself, so we came together just because of how he is and how I am.”
“He’s a dog,” Lindsay concluded, giving the QB his signature stamp of approval. “He’s earning a lot of people’s respect.”
Allow me to help out here. If you’re going to have to play, say, free-agent backup Matt Moore in a game, it’s going to be very easy to bet against the Broncos. If you have to play Chad Kelly in a game, well, nobody is exactly chomping at the bit to bet against him.
Why?
“He’s got ‘it,'” said Shane Ray. “Some people just have it.”
Save yourselves the millions, the draft pick or whatever else it may take to bring in a more “safe” option, Broncos. Believe in Chad Kelly, because most people who don’t are wrong.