Broncos Country still doesn’t know what it has in Drew Lock

If you mention the name Drew Lock in Denver right now, you’re going to get some passionate responses. Some people will scream the Broncos should move on from Lock while others will tell you he’s a franchise quarterback.

Not since Tim Tebow has the Broncos had such a divisive player.

Lock, the person, is generally well liked. But on the field, Lock is a hot topic. Broncos County has seen Lock succeed and struggle.

The worst thing that happened for Denver, though, is after the 2020 season it’s still unclear what the Broncos have in Lock.

Most will agree Lock regressed in 2020. But there is a lack of consensus within Broncos Country on how much blame the young quarterback should shoulder for his lackluster sophomore season.

Lock supporters offer up a litany of reasons — not always excuses — as to why he regressed. COVID-19 prevented Lock from having an offseason, the Broncos changed offensive coordinators, injuries, his receivers dropped passes, etc.

While not all of these reasons should blanket excuse Lock’s poor play, there is validity to some of them — the lack of continuity in the offense and coordinator Pat Shurmur’s play calling being the two most legitimate.

Lock burst onto the scene in 2019 with a 4-1 record as a starter. But in a puzzling move, head coach Vic Fangio decided to move on from offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, who had been developing a nice rapport with the young quarterback.

Part of his success in his rookie season was that Scangarello put Lock in positions to succeed. He saw the field better, converted third downs and spread the ball around.

Under Shurmur in 2020, Lock was forced to throw the ball down field too often despite his accuracy not developing yet. Lock wasn’t put in a position to succeed until late in the season, when the play calling seemed better suited to him.

The final four games of 2020 were also encouraging if you’re a Lock supporter. The four-touchdown, zero-interception game against the Carolina Panthers was a victory lap for the pro-Lock crowd. The blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills was awful for Lock, but his two-minute drill touchdown before the end of the first half was impressive.

Against the Los Angeles Chargers, Lock played well despite a head-scratching interception early in the game — the same outing that Jerry Jeudy dropped multiple passes, including a 50-yard dime from Lock that would have put Denver in field goal position to tie the game.

Lastly, in the season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, Lock had no interceptions and, with the game on the line and deep in his own territory on third-and-long, Lock found Jeudy for a touchdown.

The point is Lock supporters aren’t completely out of their minds when they believe the Broncos should stay the course with the young quarterback. He displayed resilience, a trait all starting quarterbacks must possess.

Now, to the Lock detractors.

Lock led the NFL in interceptions and finished last in completion percentage — 35th, not even the top 32.

Many look to blame drops for the low completion percentage, but that’s a weak argument. Drops don’t make a quarterback 35th in completion percentage. At some point the accountability needs to be placed on the quarterback, and Lock was very inaccurate through the season.

There is development, and there is playing poorly. Lock, for large stretches of 2020, played bad. He repeated the mistake of holding the ball low and getting caught in a sack-fumble from behind.

Lock threw interceptions that were flat out inexcusable, indicative of him not being able to read defenses. Interceptions against the Kansas City Chiefs, Chargers, New England Patriots and Raiders were all avoidable. The turnovers were less about great defensive effort and more about his inability to quickly process what happens in real time.

Lock’s 4-1 start looked promising, but he fell victim to film. When a player is new to the league, there’s little film on him. But once there is, opponents can game plan against his tendencies.

It’s up to a player to adjust. Just ask Tebow, Brock Osweiler or Trevor Siemian how their careers went once the opposition had game film to review (Spoiler: They were done as NFL starters quickly).

Recent comments about Lock from wide receiver Tim Patrick and former Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay were also red flags. Neither player want to bury Lock, and they didn’t, but the comments show Lock is struggling somewhere with his role as the starting quarterback. Whether it be confidence, work ethic or effort, something was missing last season and Lock’s teammates saw it.

With each passing day, it looks like Lock might get another chance to lead the Broncos in 2021. While his play was not good enough in 2020 to make him a slam-dunk starter, it also showed glimmers of hope to where Denver won’t be ridiculous to continue with him under center.

If given the chance, Lock will have to earn his starting role. In 2019, he played well enough to be the starter in 2020, so in a competition with someone like, say, Teddy Bridgewater, Lock would have a solid chance of winning the job.

As far as the long-term prospects, Broncos Country doesn’t actually know what it has in Lock. There no compelling, smoking-gun case for either side.

Whether Lock gets the opportunity to prove one side right remains to be seen.