Paxton Lynch

Paxton James Lynch (born February 12, 1994) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent.

After redshirting for his freshman year at Memphis in 2012, Lynch was named the Tigers' starting quarterback prior to the 2013 season.

He started all 12 games, completing 203 of 349 passes for 2,056 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

As a sophomore in 2014, Lynch started all 13 games.

He completed 259 of 413 attempts for 3,031 yards, 22 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

He also rushed for 321 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Lynch was named the MVP of the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl after passing for 306 yards with four passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns against BYU.

Lynch's 35 touchdowns in 2014 and 30 in 2015 are first and second in Memphis history, and his 76 for his career is second all-time.

As a junior in 2015, Lynch again started all 13 games.

He completed 296 of 443 passes (66.8%) for 3,778 yards, 28 touchdowns (all five school records) and four interceptions.

In Memphis' 63–0 victory over SMU, Lynch tied an Football Bowl Subdivision record with seven passing touchdowns in a half.

He finished 9 of 14 for 222 yards, and completed his touchdown throws to seven different receivers.

He also ranks first and second for most total offense in a season (4,015 yards in 2015; 3,352 in 2014).

He has four of the seven most passing yards in a game, including the school record 447 on October 23, 2015, at Tulsa.

He ranks second all-time in career attempts, completions, completion percentage, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.

He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

After the season, he decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

Lynch graduated from Memphis in May 2016 with a B.S.E. in sport and leisure management.

Lynch was predicted to be selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by draft analysts and in mock drafts prior to the draft.

He was rated the third best quarterback in the 2016 draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

The Denver Broncos selected Lynch in the first round (26th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft in a pick acquired from the Seattle Seahawks for their first and third round pick.

He was the third of 15 quarterbacks taken, behind Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, the #1 and #2 overall picks.

On June 9, 2016, the Broncos signed Lynch to a four-year, $9,476,296 contract with a $5,091,852 signing bonus.

On October 2, 2016, Lynch played in his first NFL regular-season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, replacing the injured Trevor Siemian.

He finished with 170 passing yards on 14 of 24 attempts and threw his first career touchdown pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in a 27–7 road win at Raymond James Stadium.

In Week 5, Lynch started his first NFL game, completing 23 of 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the 23–16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

He was sacked six times, a record for a Broncos rookie.

In Week 13, Lynch again replaced the injured Siemian against the Jacksonville Jaguars, posting 12 completions on 24 passing attempts for 104 yards in a 20–10 win.

Overall, he finished his rookie season with 497 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception.

Lynch suffered a shoulder injury against the Green Bay Packers in the team's third preseason game of the 2017 season.

In Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Lynch was active for the first time that season and was the backup to Brock Osweiler.

On November 21, Lynch was named the team's starter for the Week 12 game against the Oakland Raiders.

Lynch completed 9 of 14 passes for 41 yards and an interception that occurred in the endzone, the Raiders' first interception of the season.

Lynch left the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter and was relieved by Siemian for the remainder of the game as the Broncos lost 21–14.

Lynch played just two seasons in Denver and made four starts before being released prior to the 2018 season.

Lynch has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL), and the Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL.

Lynch attended Trinity Christian Academy in Deltona, Florida, where he played football and basketball.

During his high school career, he passed for 2,099 yards.

Lynch was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit.

He committed to the University of Memphis to play college football.