A look back at some key numbers from Trevor Siemian's first season as Denver's starting quarterback:
... Of the 15 first- or second-year quarterbacks with at least 350 attempts in their first season as starters since 2012, Siemian's 84.6 rating ranks sixth, ahead of Jameis Winston, Derek Carr and Andrew Luck, among others, and behind Dak Prescott, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater.
All-time, Siemian's rating places him 19th of 109 first- or second-year passers with 350 or more attempts in their first season as a starter. His plus-8 touchdown-to-interception margin is tied for 17th among those 109 quarterbacks.
"You have to be very encouraged," then-coach Gary Kubiak said after the season finale. "He was a seventh round pick. When we came out of camp, let's face it, people thought our quarterback would be a lot of guys, they didn't think it would be Trevor. He went out there and had his team right there [with a chance at the playoffs]."
... On third downs, Siemian's completion percentage of 57.6 was 1.5 percentage points below the league average of 59.1 percent. His average of 7.5 yards per attempt was 0.4 yards above average.
Siemian's 91.5 third-down rating placed him ninth among the 34 quarterbacks with at least 50 third-down attempts. It was also 5.4 points above the league average.
Siemian's third-down rating ranked behind Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Mariota, Kirk Cousins and Prescott, but above such notable quarterbacks as Russell Wilson (84.4), Philip Rivers (80.8), Andrew Luck, (79.8) and Cam Newton (78.8), according to pro-football-reference.com.
... One third-down metric Siemian hopes to improve is his first-down rate on third downs. The Broncos moved the chains once every 2.84 pass plays Siemian executed on third downs, and once every 2.73 third-down pass plays or quarterback rushing attempts -- which includes the four rushing first downs he picked up on third downs last season. This placed him below the league averages (one first down every 2.70 third-down pass plays; one first down every 2.51 pass plays and QB rushes); among the quarterbacks with at least 50 third-down plays, he ranked 24th and 22nd, respectively.
However, both figures represented improvement over the Broncos' 2015 form, when they averaged one first down every 3.02 pass plays on third down.
Among the 20 Broncos quarterbacks with at least 50 third-down plays (passes, rushes and sacks) since 1999, Siemian's rate of moving the chains once every 2.73 pass plays and quarterback rushes ranked 13th.
... While his third-down work was near the league average, Siemian and the entire offense need to improve in the red zone. Siemian was 28-of-55 for 164 yards with 10 touchdowns and one red-zone interception. That gave him an 89.0 red-zone rating ranked 23rd of the 34 quarterbacks with at least 20 red-zone attempts this season.
Further, Siemian and the Broncos moved the chains or scored just once every 3.81 red-zone pass plays; this placed him 28th. His completion percentage (50.9) was 19th.
