KC Chiefs: Thank you Broncos for sparing Chiefs from Paxton Lynch

The KC Chiefs were looking for their quarterback of the future as early as 2016 and might have gotten him, had the Denver Broncos not jumped ahead of them and taken him.

That quarterback was Paxton Lynch, who had played at Memphis during his college days. Lynch was an interesting quarterback option coming out of college because he had a cannon for an arm and definitely had the build to play the position.

Lynch entered the 2016 NFL Draft and this was a year where the Kansas City Chiefs were contemplating taking a signal caller. The other first round options that year were Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, but they obviously went first and second so neither were a realistic option for the Chiefs.

It had been rumored that the Chiefs were interested in Lynch, but right before they were about to be on the clock, another team jumped in front of them and took Lynch at pick 26. That team was the Denver Broncos and at the time, KC Chiefs fans were concerned.

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We may not want to admit it now, but had Lynch looked sensational, Chiefs fans would have been sick to their stomachs. They had their eye on their future franchise quarterback and the Broncos leapfrogged them, took him, and then reaped the benefits.

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Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case. Lynch has been awful during his short time as a Bronco, appearing in just five games (making four starts) while throwing 792 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. He’s been banged up a lot too while in Denver, which hasn’t helped his overall resumé.

Broncos fans have gotten so irritated with Lynch’s failures that they started a GoFundMe page in order to raise enough money so the Broncos can cut him. Talk about a failed experiment.

Now it’s worth noting that things would have gone a little differently for Lynch in Kansas City. For one, he wouldn’t have played much in 2016, as the team still had Alex Smith at the time.

Smith did get injured that year, but one or two games would have been manageable for the then-rookie and fans could have seen if this guy was ready to take over full-time in 2017. The bad news about that would have been that KC probably wouldn’t have won the Colts or the Jaguars game and that’d have paved the way for the Raiders to win the AFC West that year.

Secondly as to why Lynch’s KC tenure could have been different is that Andy Reid is a quarterback guru and would have played to Lynch’s strengths. Gary Kubiak, the Broncos head coach when the team drafted Lynch, retired the next year and that’s always damaging to a quarterback’s development.

John Elway hasn’t had a good track record when it comes to drafting quarterbacks and Lynch is another example of that. Even though Paxton Lynch could have panned out as a Chief, it’s not likely he’d have been the answer moving forward.

Not drafting Lynch that year led the Kansas City Chiefs to trade up for Patrick Mahomes in 2017 and the move is one that most fans are pretty excited about. Mahomes has the cannon arm that Lynch also had and has already shown promise, actually playing against Lynch and the Broncos in the season finale last year and leading the Chiefs to a comeback win.

I know Chiefs fans don’t compliment the Denver Broncos much, but Chiefs Kingdom should thank Elway and the Broncos for leapfrogging them in the draft and selecting Paxton Lynch. Had they remained put and the Chiefs taken him, Mahomes wouldn’t be a Chief and we’d probably be quite unhappy with Lynch as the team’s quarterback.

Thanks Broncos! We appreciate it.

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