Broncos: Latest report a big indictment of Drew Lock

The Denver Broncos are pretty clearly looking for an upgrade at quarterback, and the latest report on Drew Lock reinforces why.

The kind of year Carson Wentz had in 2020, no quarterback wants to be in his company. But there was Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock, tied with Wentz with a league-high 15 interceptions in 13 games. According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, the Broncos “are not sold” on Lock and are “down” on him.

Lock looked promising in spurts over five starts as a rookie in 2019, as the Broncos went 4-1 in those games. Then he was injured in Week 2 this year and missed two games. He missed another game in Week 12 as COVID-19 contact tracing wiped out Denver’s quarterback room.

After a four-interception outing against the Raiders in Week 10, Lock was better over his last six games of the season.

• First seven games: 55.04 percent completion rate, seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 66.5 passer rating, 6.3 yards per attempt, 4.99 adjusted yards per attempt
  Last six games: 60 percent completion rate, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, 85.7 passer rating, 7.0 yards per attempt, 6.79 adjusted yards per attempt

Since Lock barely played before going down in Week 2 (1-for-5 for 20 yards, 13 snaps), it’s really an even split of six games in each “half” of Lock’s season. It’s not like he was great late in the season, but he was better.

There seems to be a reason Drew Lock improved, however marginally

Along with his indications they’re down on Lock, Pauline also passed along buzz from the Senior Bowl that the Broncos had to slim down and almost “dummy down” their playbook late in the season. Pat Shurmur came in as Denver’s new offensive coordinator, so Lock had to learn another new system in a pandemic-abbreviated offseason. Injuries have also interrupted his progress, but it’s clear the Broncos aren’t thrilled with where he is heading toward in his third season.

George Paton replacing John Elway as the Broncos’ general manager clearly put Lock on notice. Reports of an offer for Matthew Stafford and residual buzz attaching the Broncos to Deshaun Watson puts them firmly in the mix to acquire a quarterback this offseason.

It’s probably just a matter of who comes in to push or replace Lock. If it comes to that, the Broncos could take someone with the ninth pick in April’s draft. But a bigger splash is possible, if not likely.