After a promising start with the Denver Broncos, quarterback Drew Lock‘s time with the team had a disappointing end.
Lock went 4-1 as a starter in his first season before following it up with a 4-9 record in 2020. Lock then lost his starting job to Teddy Bridgewater and went 0-3 in relief of an injured Bridgewater to finish the 2021 season.
Over a three-year period, Lock went 8-13 in Denver.
Granted, the 25-year-old quarterback has plenty of excuses, as his die-hard fans are quick to point out. The Broncos fired Lock’s offensive coordinator after his rookie season, and COVID-19 made the 2020 offseason more difficult. Pat Shurmur, the team’s offensive coordinator from 2020-2021, failed to get the best out of Lock and many of his teammates.
That’s all true. And Lock’s hardships in Denver don’t all fall on him. But the quarterback was far from perfect, throwing 20 interceptions and fumbling 13 times in 24 career games. His high-risk style would have been more tolerable if rewards were more frequently, but he only scored 30 touchdowns. That’s not enough to offset all the turnover-worthy plays.
Lock has a big arm, but he was often too reckless. Many fans will say he didn’t get enough of a chance with the Broncos, but 21 starts is a notable sample size for a quarterback, even an inexperienced one.
Lock showed some flashes of brilliance, but it didn’t outweigh his drawbacks. Denver needed to upgrade the quarterback position and they did so by bringing in not just a good QB, but a great one in Russell Wilson.
Lock might get a chance to start with the Seattle Seahawks now, and it will be interesting to see if he’s able to take advantage of that opportunity. If Lock fails to win a starting job and spends the majority of his remaining career as a backup, his strongest supporters will be faced with the potential reality that while his circumstances weren’t ideal, Lock himself just wasn’t good enough.
Time will tell if the Broncos made the right decision.
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