3 reasons Drew Lock should be the Seahawks quarterback of the future
The talent is real
I’ll be honest, other than watching NFL RedZone every week, I wasn’t watching and studying Drew Lock the past three seasons and frankly, he wasn’t on there very much. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think he’d be in Seattle, competing for the starting quarterback job, but here we are. So I decided to go back and watch as many highlights and big moments from his collegiate career, up to now. One thing that is very apparent…the talent is very real.
During his junior and senior years at Missouri, Lock played like one of the two or three best QBs in the 2019 NFL draft. Lock threw for a combined 7,400 yards and 72 touchdowns to 21 interceptions. His junior season really put him on the map, throwing for 44 TDs and a passing efficiency rating of 165.7.
Looking at his completion percentage at only 57.8 percent, it was very apparent watching the team highlights that Lock was in a system that was all about play-action passes and deep passes, particularly over the middle.
With an extremely aggressive passing scheme and a brutal schedule in the SEC, it’s a true accomplishment that they won seven and eight games in his upperclassman years. With an electric arm, and above-average mobility, Lock can make all the throws, he just needed the right NFL team to draft him and give him a real chance to succeed. Drafted in the second round of the 2019 draft by the Denver Broncos, Lock was not put in the best position to succeed.
Things started out really well in Denver. Sitting behind former Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco for the majority of the season, Drew Lock took over the starting job in Week 13. Lock would complete 64.1% of his throws for over one thousand yards, with seven TDs to 3 INTs.
Most importantly, he led the Broncos to a 4-1 record, with their only loss coming to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. One thing that stood out the most when watching his film was the connection he had with now Seahawks tight end Noah Fant and wide receiver Courtland Sutton.
This young trio had the look of a team that was going to be a problem for the AFC in the years to come. The future looked up for the young QB.
2020 would be a nightmare season for Lock and the Broncos. After a tough loss on the Monday night opener, it was announced that Courtland Sutton tore his ACL and would miss the season. Drew Lock would hurt his shoulder in week 2 and be out until week 6. With the Broncos at 1-3, there was early pressure on the QB and the team to turn it around quickly.
Despite raising their record to 3-4, the season would collapse and the Broncos finished 5-11. Lock, who never appeared to be 100%, would tie for the league lead in interceptions, along with the lowest completion percentage among the 35 quarterbacks eligible in the 2020 season.
With Denver head coach Vic Fangio’s job on the line in 2021, he didn’t have the time to wait on Drew Lock’s development. Instead, he signed Teddy Bridgewater, and the job was essentially his despite talk of a QB competition.
He would come in late in the season to start after Bridgewater was injured, going 0-3 with similar numbers to the 2020 season. It was clear, even with the new front office and coaching staff in Denver, that Lock’s career with the Broncos was over.
The talent and environment in Denver deteriorated for Lock from the moment he arrived. What if he and Sutton never got hurt? A poorly built offense gave way to desperation by the staff to keep their jobs. He never really had the chance to show his true skill set.