What’s the Broncos best plan for the development of Drew Lock?

The Broncos need the right plan for rookie quarterback Drew Lock. They moved up in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft so they could secure his services, and now they need to develop his considerable talent into perhaps their franchise quarterback of the future.

Lock and the Broncos have no pressure to start right away, but who knows what the situation will entail for the young passer. There are several examples of quarterbacks who needed zero time to make a splash in the pros. There’s also several more examples of quarterbacks who were rushed too soon and were not ready for the pressures they face in the NFL. Then, there’s the plan where a quarterback is allowed the proper time to develop and get things right before he starts.

There are several paths the Broncos could follow when it comes to Lock’s future. Let’s break down all the ways things could go, and I will tell you what is actually the best way to approach this situation.

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Russell Wilson / Matt Flynn Plan

The Seattle Seahawks didn’t waste any time in 2012. That offseason, they added Matt Flynn in free agency to be their veteran starter and placeholder for what was to come next. Flynn barely played during his pro career with the Green Bay Packers, but he did have one game where he threw for a whopping 480 yards and six touchdowns (Week 17 against the Lions, 2011 season) that earned him a hefty contract.

It was about the third week of training camp when the Seahawks had seen enough. Head coach Pete Carroll decided to go with rookie Russell Wilson, who had been lighting up the preseason, instead of the high-priced veteran.

Seattle kept things simple during his rookie season in 2012, and Wilson finished his first year in the pros with 3,118 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 489 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. That was a pretty good stat line as the Seahawks played great defense and made the playoffs (wild card berth) with an 11-5 record.

The next season, with all that experience, Wilson was able to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Needless to say, the pick of Wilson shows how the Seahawks crushed it in the draft. A mid-round quarterback who wins a Super Bowl in year two of his pro career just means he was scouted incorrectly and should’ve been at least a top-five pick in the draft.

Seattle is now a perennial playoff contender with Wilson at the helm. That’s why they signed the quarterback to a four-year contract worth $140 million, with a whopping $65 million signing bonus, during this offseason.

As a rookie, it’s easy to see that Wilson didn’t learn much from Flynn. He was ready for the start and didn’t need time to develop.

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Alex Smith / Patrick Mahomes Plan

The Kansas City Chiefs clearly had a plan when they moved up in the 2017 NFL Draft to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech with the 10th overall pick. Even though they had a winning record with Alex Smith in the previous season, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid saw something in Mahomes that Smith just couldn’t be.

Smith led the team to a 12-4 record in the 2016 season, but they ended up losing in the playoffs in the Divisional Round. The next spring, Kansas City drafted Mahomes.

With the stud rookie behind him on the depth chart, Smith played out of his mind in 2017 and once again led the Chiefs to the postseason. This time, they had a 10-6 record and lost in the Wild Card Round.

Mahomes took over in 2018 and the rest is history.

We could have seen Mahomes start as a rookie; we did actually see him start one game (Week 17 against the Broncos) during his first year in the league. That game only gave us glimpses as to what was to come.

Last season, Mahomes became only one of three quarterbacks (Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are the others) to pass for 50 touchdowns in one year. He also become one of just a small handful of quarterbacks to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a single season.

Unlike Wilson and Flynn, Mahomes learned quite a bit from Smith as a rookie. The veteran was a willing teacher, something that most quarterbacks in his situation wouldn’t be.

Now, the Chiefs are likely to be Super Bowl contenders every year that Mahomes is their quarterback. They have the makings of a dynasty if they do a good job of putting a quality team around their franchise quarterback.

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Brett Favre / Aaron Rodgers Plan

Many may not remember, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn’t the player we know today when he came out of Cal as a first-round pick in 2005. Rodgers had issues performing at a high level under pressure in college and needed to learn how to play with a calm mind while chaos was swirling around him in the pocket.

Rodgers improved his game incredibly as he sat behind Hall of Fame gunslinger Brett Favre. He spent three years on the bench while Favre started for the Packers. In 2008, after Favre’s (first) retirement, we finally got to see Rodgers as the team’s starter.

During his first season at the helm, the Packers had their fair share of struggles and finished with a 6-10 record. After waiting that long and developing behind Favre, the team didn’t ease Rodgers into action. Instead, in his first season starting, Rodgers threw 536 passes, completing 341 for 4,038 passing yards, with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Since that time, Rodgers has produced like a top-10 quarterback in the NFL in any season that he’s played 16 games. The Packers always seem to be in a playoff window so long as Rodgers is starting.

Unlike Smith, Favre was not a teacher for Rodgers. I’m sure Rodgers learned by watching Favre for three years, but the relationship between the two seemed to be somewhat cool for years. It’s not great now, but it seems to be much more cordial now that Favre’s playing days are long done.

Rodgers was ready when he took over, but the Packers weren’t always sold on Rodgers. They selected highly-touted Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. As difficult as it may seem to believe, there were some Peyton Manning comparisons (always ridiculous) for Brohm and some felt he could push Rodgers for the top spot.

That didn’t happen, as Rodgers became a superstar and Brohm’s career flamed out after just three NFL seasons.

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What is the Best Plan?

Lock is far from a finished product, but the tools are there for him to be a franchise quarterback if the Broncos take their time. He needs to improve his footwork as a passer; that should help his consistency and his accuracy if he hones that skill.

Lock also needs to get a more consistent release point when he throws passes. It’s a great thing that he can use all sorts of arm angles (off-platform throws) to release the ball, but he needs to do it with purpose and not just randomly as it appeared he did at times during the week of practice for the Senior Bowl earlier this year.

The best plan to follow is what Aaron Rodgers did when he came into the pros as an unfinished product.

Lock needs time and can gain a lot of valuable information just from observing how Joe Flacco gets it done on a week-to-week basis. If he could wait to start for three years (like Rodgers), it would likely help him reach his best potential as a starting quarterback.

We’ll see if Flacco can maintain a quality level of play in 2019 and beyond. It would help Lock if he could. At the same time, this is on Lock to improve his game, clean up his mechanics and eventually push Flacco out of the starting job in a couple of years.

Now that this plan could be in place, we just need to sit back and watch what comes to fruition.

Follow @CecilLammey