Broncos general manager John Elway wants Peyton Manning back for another playoff run in 2015.
Where does Elway turn, though, if Manning decides to hang up his spikes this offseason?
The Broncos have been planning for that eventuality since the 2012 NFL Draft, when they selected Brock Osweiler in the second round.
"I can tell you from sources inside the Broncos organization, this is a guy they feel very good about," NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported on NFL Network on Tuesday. "The reviews internally on Brock Osweiler are high, so if Peyton Manning does not come back, they do feel confident that they have a quarterback who can step in and have some level of success in there after Peyton Manning, whenever he does decide to retire."
It's to be expected that the personnel department responsible for drafting Osweiler still harbors strong feelings about his potential.
In 12 preseason games and a few regular-season mop-up appearances, the 6-foot-8 Osweiler has completed 100 of 170 passes (58.8 percent) for 1,089 yards (6.4 yards per attempt) and a four-to-five touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Like many inexperienced quarterbacks, he has struggled at times to read defenses.
The Broncos can bolster a young signal-caller's chances of success by re-signing free agents Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas to go with an increasingly robust rushing attack.
From what we have seen of Osweiler on Game Rewind, though, the offense would suffer a substantial decline in the transition from one of the all-time greats to a relative unknown.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every Divisional Round game and ranks the remaining quarterbacks still standing. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
