After the loss to the Chiefs, there is a bit of a panic happening around Drew Lock in Broncos Country. On BCT with Ryan Edwards and Benjamin Allbright George Chahrouri went over some ways the Broncos can help Lock be more successful.
It all started with play action pass. As Ryan said, Lock is far more successful when throwing from play action, to the tune of 24.1% better. The obvious statement there is that the Broncos should use more play action.
Chahrouri brought up some impressive offenses as a comparison. From Kyle Shanahan to Sean McVay to Andy Reid, “leveraging play action” works to put the QB in a position to succeed. Jimmy Garappolo throws shorter than any other QB, but has the most yards per attempt, and it comes out of a scheme that allows him to be successful.
The other way to create opportunities for a young QB is to use pre-snap motion.
When Ben brought that up Chahrouri made an interesting observation. Pre-snap motion is free to everyone. It has nothing to do with talent, or ability of the QB. Anyone can do it, and it can cause defenses to shift, and lean one way or the other.
This can open up opportunities for a QB that is struggling to get through his reads. It can also give the offense perspective on what the defense is trying to do before the play starts.
The key for the Broncos success moving forward is going to be figuring out how to put Drew Lock in a position to succeed. It seems like a couple adjustments to play calling, and maybe installing more pre-snap motion could be the missing link.
It’s still early in the Drew Lock era. In a world of instant gratification, Broncos Country may have to wait. These changes could shorten that wait time a little bit. Pat Shurmur just has to commit to it, and Lock has to execute.