Joe Flacco will replace Case Keenum as the broncos starting quarterback for the 2019 season. Is this a good move? I think so.
When I visited Broncos training camp for my first look at Keenum last season I wrote:
"New QB Case Keenum is impressive. He was very accurate with his passes this day, and showed better touch on his deep ball than I expected."
The problem was once the games started Keenum wasn't accurate. When I saw Keenum overthrow receivers in preseason games I thought "it must be nerves. Case was an accurate passer last season with the Vikings and from what I saw at training camp." But Keenum's accuracy problems continued into the regular season (most notably missing a wide open Demaryius Thomas in the waning seconds of the Kansas City Monday night game which would have given the Broncos a win).
Flacco, on the other hand, has shown to be an accurate passer with a stronger arm than Keenum. In the Broncos/Ravens 2012 season divisional playoff game Flacco is well known for completing a 70 yard bomb to Jacoby Jones with 38 seconds remaining to send that game into overtime (a game the Ravens won in route to a Super Bowl victory). That Bronco game was one of the coldest I have ever attended, but the frigid temperatures didn't bother Flacco (3 TD passes on the day).
I also remember a Flacco incompletion that displayed his accuracy. In the 2015 season opener the Broncos were clinging to a 19-13 lead in the last minute when Flacco threw a bullet to wide receiver Steve Smith into tight coverage in the corner of the north end zone (right below my seats). Smith dropped the pass. "Whew!" I remember saying, thinking that Flacco almost pulled off another last minute comeback against the Broncos. Had Denver lost that game it may have cost them the Super Bowl, as one more loss would have meant the AFC Championship would have been played in New England instead of Denver (the home field advantage was big in giving the Broncos a victory over the Patriots that day)
Flacco is a better quarterback than Keenum, the transaction only cost the Broncos a 4th round draft choice, and the Broncos received some salary cap relief by trading Keenum. Whether Flacco will be the Broncos quarterback beyond 2019 remains to be seen, but for this season the Flacco for Keenum swap was a good move.
