Little tape on Drew Lock is one advantage for Broncos’ offense

Broncos’ offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello recalled a moment in the game against the Chargers on Sunday after Ron Leary went out for a concussion

He realized that third-year man Garett Bolles was the most senior player on offense taking the field.

“We’ve got rookies everywhere, including the quarterback,” Scangarello said. “It’s just what we are. The cool thing about it is that we’ve got a great foundation, they’re going to get better and better the longer we do this together.”

Part of the way Scangarello helps his rookie QB taking his second-ever NFL start in Week 14 of the regular season is by letting him do what is most comfortable - from running plays he likes better to using a wristband for play calling (the second of which Dalton Risner, Lock’s roommate in camp, loves to give him a hard time about).

And Scangarello tries to help Drew Lock anticipate what’s coming.

“Part of this whole process, with all quarterbacks in the NFL, each guy’s a little different,” Scangarello said. “Their visualization, how they call plays, how they function and what’s best for them. It’s our job as coaches to adapt to their skill set.”

The OC didn’t want to get into the specifics of how he coaches Lock in game, but he said the “reality of it is that I give him a heads up what’s coming.

“Any way I can give him information, I always will,” Scangarello added. “Then he reads it off of it. He anticipates the call, and he can use the proper voice inflection and all that and have a feel for what he’s calling.”

Anticipating a lot of man coverage from the Texans defense, Scangarello has been talking with Lock about how Houston will play him according to what they‘ve seen on tape - which isn’t too much yet.

“How they view you will be what’s on that tape - do you handle pressure and do you execute and stand in there?” Scangarello said, adding that he believed Lock showed that last week - particularly with the first touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton.

The OC and Lock had discussed the play call after noting a likely blitz and therefore a one-on-one matchup deep.

“We talked in between the play and I told him, ‘Hey, Drew, they’re blitzing him more so be ready for it, get the one-on-one and let’s throw the go to Courtland.’ He did it,” Scangarello noted. “That’s him standing in there, executing and making it happen. The more you do that, people get nervous to pressure you.”

Scangarello acknowledged that the Texans will try to disguise their coverage, but that’s a give-and-take too.

“I think he’s got a good feel for [pressure]. They’re going to disguise things. If you can see things post-snap and you handle that, you’re going to get less of it,” Scangarello noted. “There’s a give and take with D-coordinators when they disguise. It can work to our advantage, and I think it’ll be fun to see how Drew handles that moving forward.”