Mizzou Football: Drew Lock linked to Broncos early on in draft process

Mizzou football is losing their quarterback to the NFL this year and it already looks like the Denver Broncos are developing a big time crush on the Tigers signal caller.

Drew Lock had a nice career for the Missouri Tigers and now he’s taking his talents to the National Football League. With how important the quarterback position is in the NFL and the lack of other top tier quarterbacks going into this year’s draft, Lock is a near lock (pun intended) to be a first round pick.

The only quarterbacks who might go ahead of him in the draft are Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, both of whom were up for the Heisman last year. Murray won the trophy, but he could still end up playing baseball.

While more teams will certainly talk to Lock as the draft process rolls on, there’s a clear standout right now and it’s one that most MU fans won’t want to hear – the Denver Broncos.

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If you Google Drew Lock, nearly every post to pop up within the last 24 hours will be linking the Mizzou quarterback to the Broncos. One that peaked my interest was titled “John Elway’s quarterback crush could shake up NFL draft” so obviously I clicked on it.

That post linked to a Denver Post article where the writer simply asks if the Broncos should trade up to get Lock. Ryan O’Halloran writes,

"I believe the Broncos are targeting multiple quarterbacks (as they should) and Lock is probably one of them (as he should be). But the uneducated eye test tells me Lock is not worth trading up the board to select because of what it will cost the Broncos (their second-round pick and 2020 first rounder for starters)."

The Broncos have the tenth overall pick in the draft and there really aren’t that many teams in the top ten AS OF NOW that need a quarterback. That obviously could change, as other quarterback needy teams could trade up to get a higher draft pick (much like the Kansas City Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes two years ago).

I’m no draft expert, but Drew Lock really would fit well with Denver’s plans. Assuming he falls to them at number ten and they ended up taking him, it wouldn’t be a bad move by any means.

They have Case Keenum as their starting quarterback for another season, so they could draft Lock, let him sit behind Keenum for at least half of the season, and then throw him to the wolves. Lock definitely will need some time to learn before diving into the deep end and he could get that type of mentoring in the Mile High City.

John Elway hasn’t done well when it comes to drafting quarterbacks for his team. Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, and Chad Kelly are just a few of the names to be drafted by the Broncos and fail as starters (though in Kelly’s defense, it was off the field stuff that led to his demise).

Elway needs whatever quarterback he selects this year to pan out and Drew Lock would be a fine choice. Could Missouri fans hide their disdain for the Broncos and cheer for Lock during his pro career?