Trevor Siemian impresses for Broncos in NFL preseason debut

When Trevor Siemian's name was called in the 7th round of the NFL Draft back in May, reactions ranged from mildly surprised to utterly shocked. What, people wondered, did Broncos general manager John Elway see in Siemian — he of the 7 touchdowns and 11 interceptions — that merited a draft pick?

Well, maybe we should've trusted Elway after all. Or, more accurately, of course should've trusted Elway, but maybe we should've realized that he saw something in Siemian that nobody else did.

Siemian made his preseason debut Friday night for the Broncos in Seattle against the Seahawks, and he didn't just look like an NFL QB; he looked like a very competent one. Siemian, who is embroiled in a competition for the Broncos' No. 3 quarterback job with Zac Dysert, played the entire fourth quarter and Dysert played the entire third, and easily outperformed the second-year Miami (OH) product.

After Dysert struggled, going 2/5 for 14 yards, Siemian entered the game with a 19-13 lead. He completed two passes for 26 yards, and showed some decent mobility on a third-down scramble, but came up just short of the sticks. The Broncos then ran the ball on 4th and inches and came up short.

Siemian's second drive was the impressive one. On the first play of the drive, he hit Bennie Fowler down the right sideline for a 41-yard gain:

Two plays later, he threw another strike to Fowler:

Another completion and a few runs brought the Broncos inside Seattle's 5-yard line. But on 3rd-and-3 from the 4, Siemian missed an open receiver in the back of the end zone, his only miss of the day. He finished 5/6 for 90 yards, good for a 118.8 quarterback rating.

Other Wildcats in action

Thursday

- Sherrick McManis had a nice game for the Chicago Bears, totaling four tackles, a pass breakup, and this great play to force a fumble:

- Rashad Lawrence also had a good showing for the Bears, and even saw some time late in the first half. He finished as the team's second-leading receiver with 3 catches for 25 yards.

- Ibraheim Campbell played a team-high 49 snaps for the Cleveland Browns, and notched 5 tackles. The following day, he drew praise from head coach Mike Pettine.

- Chi Chi Ariguzo had 3 tackles, including one for a loss, for a Chargers defense that held the Cowboys scoreless while Ariguzo was in the game.

- Kyle Prater had one fourth-quarter catch for the Saints. It went for 19 yards, and Prater came close to getting in the endzone.

- Tony Jones had one catch for the Redskins. It went for 7 yards.

Friday

- Jimmy Hall had 2 solo tackles for the Raiders, who held the Rams to 3 points.

Mike Kafka and Brian Peters are in action once again Saturday night when the Vikings take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brandon Vitabile makes his debut for the Colts Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Both games are live on the NFL Network.