The QB position is one of the vital positions in which an elite player can make the difference between a team being a play off contender and a number #1 pick contender. A prime example of this is the Indianapolis Colts. In 2010 they went 10-6, won the AFC South, and lost in the wild card game to the Jets with Peyton Manning. Cue the 2011 season without Peyton Manning they ended up with a league worse 2-14 record. In the 2012 season with newly drafted Andrew Luck under the center they finished the season with an 11-5 record, qualified for the play offs, and lost in the wild card game to the eventual Super Bowl champions. Now perhaps the Colts are a bad example because during the past three seasons they have not been devoid of talent at most positions. However, my point with this example is the difference that a talented and able quarterback can make to a team. With the elite Peyton Manning they were a play off contender, and when he went down injured and was replaced by career back ups, they were the worst team in the league. Put one of the most talented QBs to come out of college in recent history, and they were once again a play off team. A talented and able QB can make a big difference.
Now I don't think that we are QB away from being a play off team or a super bowl contender, but if you slot Peyton Manning into this team then this team would be significantly more competitive. By no means do we have an elite roster, but look at the difference he made at Denver. In 2012 Demaryius Thomas had almost a thousand more receiving yards on top of his 2011 total, and Eric Decker also became a thousand yard receiver. This season he's made Julius Thomas a productive tight end. That is just his impact on the passing game, and when you factor in Peyton's leadership and overall presence, he improves the whole team because they know that they have one of the best QBs of all time on their team, and that gives them the belief that they can go out there and beat anyone.
So if we were lucky enough to have acquired Peyton Manning at the start of this season, then I honestly do believe that this team has the receiving talent to cause teams problems. When healthy and available he would have Cecil Shorts III, Justin Blackmon, Ace Sanders, Marcedes Lewis and MJD to target. Last season Shorts was almost a thousand yard receiver with Gabbert and Henne throwing to him, and already this season he has over three hundred receiving yards, with Peyton he would easily be a thousand plus yard receiver. Blackmon became a productive receiver with Henne throwing to him, give him to Peyton and Blackmon will realize his potential and become an excellent receiver. Lewis is by no means a great tight end, but Peyton could make him productive again. MJD has always been useful in the passing game and Peyton would find him. Ace Sanders has started pretty well with Gabbert and Henne, with Peyton he could be more productive. Basically, Peyton would get this offense ticking over without too much trouble. The protection would have to improve, and the defense would have to step up, but I am sure that if the team did have Peyton then they would make the required moves to sign the experience and quality needed to improve the O-Line and defense to the required standard - plus, the Peyton Manning factor would improve the performance of the current players as well.
My point?
Obviously we don't have Peyton, an elite QB, or even a half decent QB. What we have is two QBs who are not good enough to be starting QBs in this league. I did hope that Gabbert could improve this season and take a step towards becoming the QB this team had hoped he would be, but so far he has not done that and will probably end up getting benched at some point. Any team that has ineffective QBs that are not good enough to start in this league are more likely to struggle than they are succeed, and that is regardless of whether they have the talent around them or not. For me, if this team had an elite QB like Peyton Manning it would not be the worst team in the league, it would not have the worst offense, and we may have even won a game or two because that is what elite QBs can do - help teams win games and become good competitive teams.
