Paxton Lynch: a bust, or a mistake?

Earlier this week, Broncos GM John Elway cut quarterback Paxton Lynch, whom he took with a first-round draft choice (26th) in 2016.

I hadn't heard good things about him. Mark Schlereth said was "last to arrive, first to leave" practices. Danny Kanell said he met Lynch when Lynch was still at Memphis, and described his personality as "off." Mike Lombardi likewise said Lynch had personality issues, and both he and Schlereth said he didn't mentally process the NFL game quickly.

What's surprising is that Elway drafted him so highly in the first place. The concerns about Lynch's maturity and intelligence were expressed by NFL scouts before the 2016 draft.

On the other hand, it's not as it Lynch was a top-10 pick. A late first-round quarterback pick is someone you'd hope would be a solid long-term starter, but necessarily a perennial All-Pro. Guys who are seen as having that potential are drafted in the top five. 

In other words, Lynch was not a "can't miss" prospect. The Broncos did waste a first-round pick for him,  but it was Elway's roll of the dice: he knew or should have known there was a distinct possibility Lynch wouldn't be any good. After Jared Goff and Carson Wentz were drafted first and  second overall all, 23 teams passed on Lynch and every other quarterback for a reason. And five or six of those teams really needed a quarterback.

That's why I wouldn't call Lynch a bust. A bust has to be near-unanimously recognized as having great potential who failed to even be average. Few saw greatness in Lynch. He was a mistake, a failed gamble, but not a bust.