Of all the people expected to inherit the throne from Peyton Manning, Trevor Siemian wasn’t expected to be one of them.

The consensus was that the Denver Broncos would pay Brock Osweiler. Or somebody. Sure, they paid Mark Sanchez, but he’s in a dogfight with the former Northwestern quarterback to win the starting job.

Broncos coach Gary Kubiak announced that Siemian will get the start for Saturday night’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. Sanchez will be worked in, but it’ll be Siemian who gets to set the tone.

That’s coming off the heels of a solid preseason debut for Siemian. The second-year quarterback completed 7 of 12 passes for 88 yards in relief of Sanchez last week.

Reports out of Broncos camp on Siemian have been glowing. As the only quarterback who was on the roster last year, it’s believed that Siemian has the best understanding of the offense. He has reportedly been receiving the bulk of the snaps with the No. 1 offense since last week’s preseason game.

Can the former seventh-round pick capitalize on the opportunity Saturday night? That remains to be seen. But Kubiak was asked if he would like to name a starter after Saturday’s game.

“Would I like to? Yes,” Kubiak told ESPN. “Will I? I don’t know.”

Stay tuned.