Brett Rypien recognizes his 'opportunity', excited to compete for Broncos' backup QB

The Denver Broncos originally planned on using their 2019 seventh-round pick on Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien. But when GM John Elway had the chance to trade up and grab Colorado WR Juwann Winfree in the sixth round, he took it, packaging that seventh-rounder in the process.

Rypien fell completely out of the draft but he never escaped the Broncos' scrutiny. Elway and new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello kept an eye on him and worked to make the former Boise State star a priority college free-agent signing.

The language of the NFL is money. That being the case, the guarantee the Broncos offered Rypien to sign spoke volumes. Rypien received a whopping $146,000 guarantee to sign in Denver.

It was an unprecedented figure for Denver to offer to an undrafted rookie but that's how much Scangarello valued Rypien. Rypien has since been buried as the No. 4 QB on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco, Kevin Hogan and fellow rookie Drew Lock.

Rypien hasn't appeared in a preseason game for the Broncos since the Hall of Fame Game. Denver's focus was completely on fleshing out the competition between Hogan and Lock, and giving their second-rounder the lion's share of the reps to improve and develop over the summer.

A possible ulterior motive behind Rypien's lack of play time over the last two preseason games could be the Broncos' desire to sandbag and hide him from the radar of the other 31 NFL teams. Before Lock got hurt, it was almost a given, the way the team had chosen not to play Rypien, that he was bound for the practice squad.

However, the Broncos now have little choice but to play both Hogan and Rypien in these final two games, despite the risk that QB-needy NFL teams out there might like what they see from the undrafted rookie and claim him off waivers before the Broncos could stash him.

Although he faces long odds to make the Broncos' 53-man roster and serve as Flacco's regular-season backup until Lock's sprained thumb heals, Rypien fully recognizes that an unique opportunity has presented itself. He's intent on capitalizing and proving to the Broncos' brass that he can be counted on to serve as that QB2, even if it is just short-term.

“For me, I’m called upon in this opportunity and I’m excited for it," Rypien said on Thursday as the Broncos prepared for their preseason road bout vs. the L.A. Rams. "I’ve never really thought about it like that [competing for QB2], but I’ve always thought when I’m able to get my chance, get out there and play, I want to do well and I want to succeed. For me, I’m excited to get out there and get some reps this week.”

Rypien's game-time reps will increase dramatically. Head coach Vic Fangio said that Rypien will play vs. the Rams but that the play-time split between he and Kevin Hogan won't necessarily be even.

Rypien believes that he has improved and learned a lot since landing in Denver as a CFA. Speed-of-the-game, especially, has improved for the young signal-caller.

“Yeah, I think just playing faster," Rypien said. "You know you have the ability to go out there and make plays, but at the same time you’re out there thinking about what your assignment is and you’re not just playing. I mean, that can slow you down a little bit. You can’t play slow, especially at this level, because everything is a little bit faster, the windows are tighter. So for me, it’s just been trying to learn as much as I possibly can so I can go out there and not really think and just react.”

The Broncos owe it to themselves and to Rypien to give him a true shot to win that QB2 role while Lock heals up. As I've talked about on the Huddle Up Podcast all week long, there is a distinct possibility that even as an undrafted rookie who's appeared in just one NFL preseason game, Brett Rypien could be a better QB today than Hogan is.

Hogan has shown next-to-nothing in all three preseason games he's appeared in. If he's Denver's idea of a fail-safe, the team is probably not viewing the backup job clearly. Based on his play, he's a fail-danger. But he will get the start on Saturday night in L.A.

Rypien, on the other hand, showed when he entered the Hall of Fame Game with about half of the fourth quarter left to go that he can be a factor. I might not at this point call it the 'clutch gene' but he does have an NFL pedigree and he did lead the game-winning drive vs. Atlanta — a touchdown pass he threw to Juwann Winfree.

The only way Rypien pushes Hogan off the roster at this point is by leaving no doubt that he's the better QB today. He'll have to create some clear-and-obvious separation and the good news is, he should get plenty of reps to do so with Joe Flacco officially being shut down for the remainder of the preseason.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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