Kansas City Chiefs: Predicting AFC West quarterbacks for 2021 season
By Cullen Jekel
Denver Broncos
Current Starting Quarterback: Drew Lock, Rookie
Last offseason, the Broncos once again hit the reset button at the quarterback position as football czar John Elway continually looks to find a long-term answer at the position. Turns out, the answer wasn’t Case Keenum, 2018’s starter, and it wasn’t Joe Flacco, 2019’s starter who didn’t appear in a game after Week 8.
But Elway doubled-down in the offseason. In addition to acquiring Flacco from the Ravens, where he’d been supplanted by Lamar Jackson, Elway also snagged a quarterback in the second round of the NFL Draft, selecting University of Missouri quarterback Drew Lock with the 42nd overall pick.
Denver, of course, rode Flacco out of the gate while Lock started his rookie year on IR. But in Week 13, after Flacco’s benching and several ghastly performances by Brandon Allen, Lock, having returned from IR, got his chance as he started the final five games for the then 3-8 Broncos.
Lock went 4-1 with wins against the Chargers, Texans (on the road), Lions and Raiders with the only loss coming on the road against the Chiefs. He finished with a 64.1 completion percentage as he reached 1,020 passing yards to go with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran the ball 18 times for 72 yards, picking up five first downs.
Sure, there’s room for improvement, as the Broncos, under Lock, averaged 21.4 points per game, which would’ve ranked just ahead of the Lions, Giants and Panthers for 18th in the league. Still, that average is significantly higher than the team’s 17.6 points per game it averaged for the entire season, which ranked 28th, ahead of only the Bears, Bengals, Jets and Redskins.
So is Lock the elusive Quarterback of the Future for the Denver Broncos? Maybe. Maybe not. But I bet he’s the starting quarterback to begin not only next season but also the 2021 season.
Barring trade, the Broncos are slated to pick 15th in the upcoming first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. At that point, the draft’s top three quarterbacks will be off the board, and Lock is better than those who will remain, like Utah State’s Jordan Love, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Washington’s Jacob Eason and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts.
Where it gets interesting is next year’s draft. If Lock regresses, or the team as a whole plummets further, will Elway tank? Will he try to swing a massive blockbuster to move up to the first two picks to nab either Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence or Ohio State’s Justin Fields?
Possibly. But unlikely. I have mixed feelings about this, considering it’s the Broncos, but I feel like John Elway’s finally found his quarterback in the former Missouri product from Lee’s Summit.