ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drew Lock has four more games to prove to John Elway, Vic Fangio and the rest of the Denver Broncos that he should be the team’s starting quarterback in 2021.
His continued two-year audition to be Denver’s next franchise quarterback continues on Sunday in Carolina against the Panthers.
When asked what Lock needs to do in the Broncos’ final four games of the season, Fangio wasted no time outlining what he needs to see to have confidence in No. 3 moving forward.
“We got to cut down on the interceptions, obviously,” Fangio immediately stated.
After Sunday’s two-interception performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, Lock’s 13 interceptions are the second-most in the NFL, only behind Carson Wentz, despite missing nearly three full games due to injury. Lock’s 4.4 interception percentage is the highest in the league.
Since returning from his badly bruised shoulder in Week 6, Lock has thrown at least one interception in each game and has multiple interceptions in four of those seven games.
“We got to get it corrected,” Fangio said when speaking on the team’s turnover margin in general. “I think we lead the league in interceptions thrown. Obviously, that’s where we got to start. We haven’t gotten enough takeaways on defense, that’s where we got to start. It’s obviously an area that we need to improve on and it’s an area that has held us back this season.”
Since tossing four interceptions against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10, Lock has looked more comfortable in the Broncos’ offense the past two weeks, despite the numbers not necessarily backing that up.
“We just need to see the continued improved play,” Fangio said about his second-year quarterback. “I think converting the third downs last night showed that a little bit. We had a good day in the red zone. That shows development in a quarterback.”
Believe it or not, Denver’s young offense outperformed Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense on third down and in the red zone on Sunday night. In Arrowhead Stadium, the Broncos converted 54 percent of their third downs and were a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone.
Denver’s young offense showed progress on Sunday, despite only putting up 16 points. That progress will need to continue for Lock over the final four games.
“Just need to make good throws, good plays, good reads, run the offense from the start of the huddle to the line of scrimmage. We’re not always spot on right there and we need to be,” Fangio said, continuing his evaluation of the 24-year-old quarterback. “I think Drew’s got it in him and we’re going to keep working with him on that.”
Not that there was much question, but the last four games of the season will be all about Lock, not anyone else. When asked if there have been any discussions about getting a look at Brett Rypien down the stretch, Fangio simply said, “No, we haven’t discussed that.”
With the Broncos all but out of the playoff picture with a 4-8 record, Drew Lock is playing for his starting role on the team in 2021 down the stretch.
