Who was saying Manning wouldn't mentor younger QBs?
Peyton Manning willing to build up other Denver Broncos QBs
By Jeff Legwold The Denver Post The Denver Post
As the years have spun by, Peyton Manning has been described man ways. A Hall of Famer. An MVP. And in the swirl that has come with Manning's arrival in Denver, the Broncos themselves have added another.
Teacher.
"Absolutely," said Broncos rookie quarterback Brock Osweiler. "I don't want to constantly bug him and all that. I pick my spots. But I'm in the greatest situation you could be in as a young quarterback. I work next to a Hall of Famer who is willing to help me, to share what he knows.
"It doesn't get better than that. It can't get better than that."
The NFL is littered with tales of starting quarterbacks who weren't all that interested in grooming the guys who could take their jobs.
It's the nature of the vocation. To succeed takes ultra-confidence, next-level swagger, the consistent, non-stop belief that you are, without question, the best man for the job from now until the day you retire. And sometimes it can get messy if the guy who knows isn't ready to dish to the guy who is trying to learn.
The Broncos have three impressionable and youthful passers behind Manning on their depth chart, a collection of players whose development could be stifled if Manning were not Manning.
At 21, Osweiler was one of the youngest youngest players in the draft. Adam Weber, who spent the 2011 season on the Broncos practice squad, is 25 and even Caleb Hanie, in his fifth year in the league, is still only 26.
"They're all young guys," said Broncos quarterbacks coach Adam Gase. "But when Peyton says something (to them), it's his perspective, not some piece of paper perspective."
Need to know what the nickel corner does in a certain coverage, Manning knows. Need to know how a certain defensive coordinator has dialed up third-and-6 through the years, Manning knows.
Need to know how to study, watch video, take notes or get from one end of the season to the other, well, just watch and learn because Manning knows.
Even something as simple as a training camp progression drill, with the quarterbacks, by themselves, throwing passes to assistant equipment manager Mike Harrington or even Luke Del Rio, Jack's son, has become a teaching moment. Manning will often stop the drill for a few moments and explain why one pass was a better option than another.
Or he will explain how the defense would have played it in a game, where the defensive back would have cheated, the best way to look off the safety and come back around for the completion.
"The thing that he does so well is the right play, the right read, the right progression," Gase said. "Just meticulous study of where does this ball need to go against this defense, what's this defense trying to accomplish against me."
In the world of NFL quarterbacks, information is precious. NFL quarterback may be the most demanding position in sports.
To get a head start, to have the ultimate resource of memory, talent and work ethic will likely benefit the Broncos for some time. And Manning has yet to even play a regular-season game for the team.
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