Drew Lock needs to start over, somewhere other than Denver

The Denver Broncos need to upgrade their quarterback position. They are looking to do that once again this offseason, and it may come via trade, free agency or the 2022 NFL Draft.

Even though I think the Broncos make a power move for a top-tier quarterback, there are others who are not as optimistic. These people may think the Broncos should just punt on quarterback again so they can run it back with 2019 second-round pick Drew Lock.

Lock has support from about half of the fan base because people think he’s never been given a fair chance to improve and show he can be a franchise quarterback. That support is great, but the time has come for Lock to take his talents elsewhere.

I think Lock needs to start… over in 2022. That means he needs to get traded or released so he can get a fresh start. I believe such a move would be good for him.

Let’s examine why.

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Too Much Damage

Lock’s career with the Broncos hasn’t been great outside of his 4-1 start as a rookie and a handful of quarters (against bad teams) since then. Too much damage has been done with him and the Broncos. There’s just too much bad film to point to that indicates he’s just not the guy.

Not only is there bad film, but there’s been too much damage to Lock’s body. I’m not saying his career is over, but most of the time when we see Lock starting, it ends with an injury. Availability is an ability, and the Broncos can’t wait another year for Lock to develop with his high injury risk.

Let’s say they do give him one more year. If that’s their plan, then fine, so long as they have a backup plan in place that can win games. If they’re going to have that type of backup plan, then it would make sense for the Broncos to just move on and go with a better plan. Rotating through Lock and a veteran backup like Mitchell Trubisky doesn’t make sense.

It’s a new staff in Denver, but they want to get off to a hot start and maintain that heat to the postseason. Even if Lock plays better, there’s always that danger that things could fall apart when he gets hurt. Yes, that’s the case for every quarterback out there but Lock has a clear track record which indicates his play style gets him hurt.

Lock played in five games as a rookie, mainly due to him missing most of the year with injury. In 2020, Lock was limited to 13 games even though he was the full-time starter, mostly due to injury. In 2021, Lock lost the starting job to Teddy Bridgewater – and then when he started late in the year, he got banged up again. Lock played through those various injuries in 2021, but his body is not built to take the NFL punishment.

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System Specific

The dirty secret in the NFL is that it’s all about “fit” in the NFL, and Lock certainly didn’t fit the Pat Shurmur offense. Lock went 4-1 as a rookie under former offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. During that time, Lock had the best game – in his first start of his pro career. Scangarello was telling Lock what to do and what to look for in his headset before the play, but that’s what you have to do with a young quarterback. You couldn’t continue to do that, but it worked, and Lock looked good in the Shanahan/West Coast offense.

Scangarello was fired after Lock’s rookie season and replaced with Shurmur. Who knows what kind of quarterback fits the Shurmur system, but he certainly didn’t craft his offense around the talents of Lock in 2020. Yes, it was a COVID year, and they missed out on one billion reps (sarcasm), but there were ways Shurmur could have helped Lock look better on the field. Implementing some favorite plays of Lock would have been a start. Use easier throws/reads to get him into a rhythm, and then ask him to do more. Utilizing bootlegs and rollouts would have been better too, but Shurmur seemed resistant to doing that.

This new offense, ran by new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, is a pure West Coast system. One would think that would be great for Lock, and I do think he would look better in this system. However, this is a new language even though the plays are familiar. Lock has never been known to pick up a new system quickly – and reports surfaced in 2020 that Shurmur had to shrink his playbook to accommodate Lock. I don’t think Hackett wants to do that, especially for a player he’s inheriting instead of a rookie quarterback he could hand pick and then groom to his system.

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Fan Base Split

Not only are the Lock “stans” vocal about their support of the young quarterback, but there are also more of them than some realize. Some Lock fans will give him tons of time to work out his problems – even though little progress has been made. Those same fans need to see him completely fall on his face before they give up – and then they can blame the former coaching staff for his current-day failures.

I do think Shurmur and former head coach Vic Fangio are partly to blame. I won’t pin everything on them when it comes to Lock’s lack of progress because such a thing as self-accountability is needed. The system was not a fit and the coaching staff was out of touch, but it’s also on Lock to make himself better as a pro quarterback. Instead of pointing fingers at the inept staff, Lock needs to pull the thumb and take it on himself to work away from the facility as much as possible.

Reporters were over the moon last offseason when it was revealed Lock was working with Peyton Manning. That’s great, but why did it take until before his third year for him to use this resource. Manning lives here and would likely be willing to help as much as possible – not just when a guy is fighting for the starting job. Lock should have showed up in Denver and been the back pocket of Manning as much as possible. When reports revealed the Lock/Manning meetings were about 9-10 hours total in two film sessions the excitement wore off. Why wasn’t Lock meeting with Manning as much as possible?

Don’t tell Lock fans what to think. I’ve never seen an average-at-best quarterback have such rabid fans. It’s not like Missouri is a nationally popular team like Alabama or Ohio State, but these fans are so feverish they want to see Lock more than Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. Yes, these fans are out there as difficult as that is to believe. Instead of catering to these fanatics, the Broncos need to move on with a different plan.

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Summary

If you love Lock – great! That’s your truth and nobody can take that away from you. However, if you really love the young gunslinger then you need to let him go.

I am not a Lock hater. I had a late first-round grade on him when he came out of college, and I felt the Broncos got a value when they picked him up in the second round. Lock has not changed his footwork as he needed to do coming out of college and is still too reliant on his rocket arm. This lack of progress, and the bad habits he’s formed in three pro seasons, means it’s time to move on.

I believe Lock has untapped potential, but it’s too late for him here for the reasons mentioned above. A change of scenery would be great for both sides, and I’m sure Lock would like that fresh start. Do you really want “stans” making excuses for him after every bad play? Do you really want to see him make the same ill-advised throws off his back foot because “it’s all Shurmur’s fault” or any other excuse?

No thanks. Broncos fans should support the Broncos decision on Lock – even if that means releasing him or trading him. If he goes on to have success with another team – great for him! Things just didn’t work out in Denver, and a fresh start could do him some good.

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