“Brett Rypien in for the Broncos” is a well-worn phrase around Boise, but in Denver, CO it was really only uttered in preseason contests until last Sunday, when our very own Rypster was called into action late against the Buccaneers (Brady vs. Rypien: The War on the Shore). With regular starter Drew Lock out with an injury and backup Jeff Driskel ineffective, the fresh-off-the-practice-squad Rypien was given a chance to do SOMETHING late against the Bucs and that he did (a whole lot of it, in fact). Rypien deftly moved the Broncos down the field by nickels and dimes to the tune of 8-for-8 passing before getting too far behind the sticks and needing to air it out on 4th down...a pass that was subsequently picked on the goal line. So, by my count, Rypien completed all 9 of his pass attempts if we don’t split hairs about which team he was throwing to.

Well, there were good enough glimpses from the 2nd year prospect that head coach Vic Fangio has named Rypien the starter for the Broncos’ Thursday night scrap against the New York Jets...even if Fangio is a little confused about exactly which Rypien he’s turning the reins over to.

This will also “mark” the first time that Rypien has shared a space with Sam Darnold since they were recruits (H/T: @JeremyKawika)

Buncha nobodies just ahead of Ryp, tbh.

Hey—win, lose, or draw (because you can actually draw in the NFL, for some reason) this is huge news for Rypien and Bronco Nation couldn’t be prouder (the Boise State Bronco Nation, that is). Hoping that this appearance might springboard Rypien to a more meaningful place on the team and show his value to the league (and keep Blake Bortles rippin’ cigs). It’s big news for Boise State as well, really...as Dave Southorn pointed out Rypien will be just the second Boise State QB to start an regular season NFL game (don’t recall the other guys’ name)...and apparently we’ve decided that Ryan Finley doesn’t count.

The game starts at 6:20PM (MT) this Thursday on NFL Network. Should we do a gamethread?

LET’S GO BRETT!