Broncos roster review: Quarterback Drew Lock

The most controversial player on the Denver Broncos this season has to be none other than quarterback Drew Lock. His up and down play last season forced the Broncos’ front office to bring in competition for the starting quarterback job in the form of veteran Teddy Bridgewater.

Drew Lock’s profile

Height: 6’4”
Weight: 228 lbs
Age: 24 years old
Experience: Third Season
College: Missouri

The good

Lock has all of the physical traits of an NFL caliber quarterback. He has a strong arm that can fit the ball into those tight windows that starting quarterbacks have to find at the NFL level. With his arm strength, he could have far more options down the field over a guy like Teddy Bridgewater. It just comes down to how well he can show off that ability during training camp.

There are enough good plays from 2020 to give any of us hope that Lock could turn a corner with the right coaching and play calling.

The bad

Consistency.

It’s only been three days of training camp as of this writing and already we’re seeing that ugly issue crop up. Lock and Bridgewater were basically even on Day 1, but on Day 2 Lock was pretty bad up until the very end of the practice session while Teddy was rock solid. Then on Day 3, Lock tore it up. He was throwing darts all over the place, including this bomb to KJ Hamler.

Teddy continued to be consistent and high completion percentage, but turtled a bit on Day 3 with only two completions beyond 20 yards. That gave the edge to Lock there, but the peaks and valleys continue to be vast and will give coaches pause when deciding on a starter if Lock continues to show such inconsistency.

Lock has to show he can put together consistent NFL caliber play in practice if he is to prove to coaches he is ready to be the starter in 2021.

Final thoughts

I’ve been in the camp that believes the issues that plague Lock are issues that are the most difficult for a quarterback to overcome. The mental processing speed required to throw receivers where they will be open is just a bit to slow and you can see that on film all throughout Lock’s career in college and in the NFL. If his reads were wide open, then you saw the type of quarterback that gives you hope Lock will turn it around. His biggest games came in situations where the play calls just worked out perfectly and the need to read the field and throw guys open just wasn’t as necessary for sustaining drives and scoring points.

That isn’t to say he can’t still turn things around. As of this writing, training camp is just getting underway, so it is too early to make a definitive judgement on Lock. If he can speed up his reads, then he has all of the physical tools to beat out Bridgewater for the job. That’s where I’ll be looking specifically and ignoring the normal stuff coming out of camp, such as, completions, interceptions, and touchdowns. I want to know if Lock is progressing through his reads better than he did last year, because that’s what will ultimately make him a better quarterback in the long-term.