Broncos Camp Offensive Arrangement Hints At QB Competition

Training camps tend to feature some obscure storylines, which means backup quarterbacks often get to take center stage. For the Denver Broncos, that means Jarrett Stidham vs. Sam Ehlinger, which many have wondered is any kind of storyline at all. 

The tentative answer is that it might be. According to Luca Evans of the Denver Post, coach Sean Payton did alter some of the configurations for the two quarterbacks on the second day of camp in a way that might have some meaning. 

For the first team in any Broncos camp practice since the Broncos first signed Ehlinger back in 2025, Ehlinger took the second-team reps during every team period. Stidham, meanwhile, took the third-team reps. 

It’s easy to take this as commentary on Stidham’s performance against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. The Broncos needed Stidham to come up big, but instead the opposite happened, as he lived up to his reputation for committing a bad turnover at the worst possible time. 

It should be noted, however, that Stidham spent most of the game operating in a small but significant snow storm that reduced both visibility and the quality of both offenses. 

Payton is a master at playing both ends of this kind of issue, and he did just that in his comments about their situation.

“There’s competition at all three of these spots,” Payton said of the quarterback spots. He then indicated that there’s nothing significant about Ehlinger’s move up to run the second team offnese. 

“There was nothing remarkable, or anything we discussed in meeting,” Payton said, when he was asked about the reasoning for the change in reps. “So maybe they just unfolded where, yeah … but I wouldn’t make anything into it.”

But Evans also noted that Ehlinger largely outplayed Stidham according to the eye test during Denver’s offseason program. The 27-year old Ehlinger established himself well in Denver’s quarterback room, Evans added, and he turned down bultiple contract offers throughout 2025 to continue developing in Denver’s system. Ehlinger also wanted to work with new play-caller Davis Webb, who’s been promoted to offensive coordinator. 

“I think we just sold our program, and the offense,” Payton said when he was asked about Ehlinger choosing to stay in Denver. “You can never promise anything other than, I would say this – we saw immediate growth. And you’d have to ask him, but I think he felt like, ‘I want to continue with this offense and continue where I’m going.’”

Ehlinger also signed a one-year deal worth $2 million in the offseason, which would make him far less expensive than Stidham as a backup. Combine that with the trade rumors that surfaced around Stidham early in the offseason, and it’s a situation worth watching going forward.