Broncos' offense challenges rookie QBs

ENGLEWOOD - Bradlee Van Pelt admitted when he was drafted that he would be a project as a rookie quarterback with the Denver Broncos. But he was still surprised at how difficult it was to learn the Broncos' complex offense.

"There are times you really want to hang your head," Van Pelt said during a June minicamp. "You don't want to watch the film, and you want to crawl into your bed and sleep. I can tell you the truth, that's how I feel sometimes. I go, 'Is this really worth it? Did I bite off more than I can chew?' "

Van Pelt, who became wellknown for being a brash quarterback at Colorado State, doesn't have much room for error. Neither does fellow rookie quarterback Matt Mauck, who helped LSU win a share of the 2003 national championship.

The Broncos drafted Mauck and Van Pelt in the seventh round of the draft in April, and there's little chance both will make the active roster. While they could end up on the practice squad, the best-case scenario for either would be securing a No. 3 job with an impressive training camp, which starts Wednesday.

The rub is that to prove themselves during camp and exhibition games, they need to have a functional knowledge of the offense. So in the three months between the draft and the start of training camp, Mauck and Van Pelt put in some long days.

"Obviously you're not going to know every single thing, but you should have a really good grasp to where you can go out there and they can put a package together so you can play," Mauck said.

Most days for the rookie quarterbacks started at 7 a.m. There were meetings at the Broncos' headquarters with assistant coaches, weightlifting and workout sessions with the rest of the Broncos, some throwing with teammates and, after lunch, more meetings.

Plus, each quarterback estimated they spent an hour or two a night going over tape or studying their playbook as a part of their crash course.

"In college, it's like, 'I'll get back to it the next day,' " said Van Pelt, who admitted earlier this offseason that Mauck was far ahead of him in learning the offense. "You have time to develop, and also, they're not going to boot you off the team.

"It originates from pressure here. If you're going to be a quarterback in this league, in this system, you better study and better know what you're doing because you're held accountable."

The rookie quarterbacks can only hope training camp is easier than their first minicamp two weeks after the draft, when they were asked to run plays with virtually no knowledge of the offense.

"(The coaches) call 'Three Jacks Level,' " Van Pelt said of his experience at the minicamp in early May. "And you're sitting there going, 'Three Jacks Level?' Walking up to the line like 'What's Three Jacks Level?' All of a sudden the cadence is going and you have to call it and you just have no idea."

The Broncos have an extra exhibition game this season, an extra opportunity for rookie quarterbacks to play.

For Van Pelt and Mauck, how smoothly they run the offense could determine their future with the Broncos.

"You have to think about that. And you get butterflies," Van Pelt said. "Because that's what's going to make or break you ultimately."

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