The hope is that Drew Lock never has to play a meaningful down for the Seattle Seahawks. Such is the life of a backup quarterback on an established, good NFL team, which is exactly what the Seattle Seahawks are. Sam Darnold should be the long-term QB1.
Should Lock be pressed into action, though, 12s might have some faith that he will be pretty decent. He showed as much during his two seasons backing up Geno Smith during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, including a couple of starts, winning one of them.
This is one reason that Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano's ranking of Lock as the 17th-best backup quarterback in the NFL is way off. Had Lock been the 17th-best quarterback overall, sure, that would have been wrong. But no more wrong than that number among backups.
Seattle Seahawks QB2 Drew Lock gets far too low of a ranking among NFL backup quarterbacks
Is Lock worse than Trey Lance, for instance? The failed first-round choice from 2021 is 15th. Lock has more starting experience, better overall efficiency, and the team-first mentality that helps teams win. Lance hasn't come close to proving he can do that yet.
Manzano appears to put too much weight behind what a backup might be capable of instead of what they have shown they can do. That might be fine for a starter, but a backup has to enter a game for various reasons and try to come as close to the level of the starter as possible while coming in cold.
Potential doesn't matter in this situation because the backup doesn't have any time to spend getting better. He has to be great immediately.
Manzano writes of Lock, "Lock struggled in five starts with the Giants during his one year away from Seattle. The 2019 second-round selection of the Broncos has made 28 career starts. He delivered a memorable performance in 2023, rallying the Seahawks to defeat the Eagles on Monday Night Football."
That's a bit misleading. Drew Lock's stay with the New York Giants was weird. He signed there for one season in hopes of getting a chance to be QB1, but was passed over during the season once injuries occurred. In other words, he didn't get a fair shake in New York.
While he wasn't brilliant overall for the Giants, he did have one incredible game. In Week 17 of the 2024 season against the Indianapolis Colts, Lock tossed four touchdown passes and threw for 309 yards in a 45-33 victory. His quarterback rating in that game was 155.3.
Is Drew Lock a quarterback capable of leading the Seattle Seahawks over a full season to high-end success? Maybe not. But in a pinch, he could certainly help Seattle win some games. He's shown that. What is certain is that he is far better than being the 17th-best backup QB in the league.
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