Wes Welker is going from one Hall of Fame-bound quarterback to another. After spending years with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, the wide receiver is making the jump to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Naturally the two marquee quarterbacks draw a lot of comparisons to each other as they are easily to top two players in the NFL. However, Welker is not getting caught up in determining who the better quarterback; he is just focused on the one he is playing with now.
Welker has nothing but compliments for his new teammate, Manning. The two have be spending a lot of time together working on chemistry and timing that will pay off when the season starts. While head coach John Fox said the biggest hurdle for Welker will be learning new language, the wide receiver thinks that Manning is making the transition easy.
"It's everything you thought. The balls are just so accurate and you come out of your break and the ball is just there. It's almost like a long handoff sometimes. He definitely makes it easy on you," Welker said.
The admiration is equally shared as Peyton is more than happy having Welker on his team every Sunday rather than having to face him as an opponent. The quarterback has been studying the way the Patriots used Welker in their offensive system and the Broncos are adding similar plays in order to get the most production out of the wide receiver.
"I'd be lying if I told you we have not studied what worked well for Wes in New England," Manning told the Broncos website. "There's certain pass patterns and certain things that he's done so well for so long, you'd be crazy not to copy some of those and bring those to your offense."
Manning is happy with how well the Welker transition has been going. He compliments the receiver on his ability to read coverages, taking that job as serious as Manning does. Welker likes that Manning has pushed him outside of his comfort zone, something he thinks will help the team's progress.
With the addition of Welker come even higher expectations for the Broncos. The team was a play away from making it to the AFC Championship last season and is expected to be right back in contention in 2013. Welker is certainly thriving on the pressure and is ready to answer.
"I know in Denver we have high expectations and people have high expectations for us. It's a good spot you want to be in," Welker said.
