ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — John Elway won’t say it. Vic Fangio won’t say it. Rich Scangarello won’t say it.
But Von Miller will.
“He’s going to be the quarterback. He’s going to be the future of the Denver Broncos,” Miller said, declaring Drew Lock the Broncos’ starting quarterback beyond this season. “After a great offseason, Drew can be wherever he wants to be coming to start the next season. Pretty exciting for Drew’s future here and what he can do for us here with the Broncos.”
On Sunday, Lock has an opportunity to finish the season 4-1 since taking over the team in Week 13. In his first four career starts, the second-round pick ranks in the top half of the league in nearly every statistical category. Despite that, the general manager and head coach have yet to officially declare Lock the guy beyond Sunday’s season finale.
Drew Lock doesn’t care.
“I’m going to approach [the offseason] like I’m ‘The Guy,’” the 6-foot-4 quarterback said without hesitation on Thursday, despite not being told that from the front office. “Once I took my first step out on the field as the starter, that was just my mentality. I wasn’t going to lose it. I was going to keep it. That’s the kind of mindset that I had. That’s the kind of guy I want to be for this place. And that’s the kind of guy I think this place deserves.”
The last time the Broncos had ‘The Guy’ was when No. 18 was strutting around the halls. After Sunday’s game, Peyton Manning will have been out of the building for four full seasons.
In Lock’s four games, his play has given fans hope they’ve found their next franchise quarterback, while his leadership on and off the field has earned buy-in from a number of his teammates.
But Lock knows he’s a ways away from being a finished product. With the strides he’s taken during his rookie season—where he was on the injured reserve for over half the year—he believes he and his play were “definitely good enough” for him to be the guy going into the offseason.
The confident rookie doesn’t need to be anointed as the starter before the team breaks for the offseason, either. If they tell him publicly or behind closed doors, great. If not, Drew’s still going into the offseason with the mindset that the job is his.
And he’s going to act like it, too.
Like most, if not every, face of the franchise, Lock will embrace his new city and reside in Denver “most” of the offseason. Additionally, he will, in fact, get his receivers together for a couple of offseason throwing sessions—a tradition dating back to when Manning would go above and beyond by bringing his receivers to Duke for an offseason camp.
On a salary far smaller than Manning’s, Lock may not go to that extent for a passing camp this offseason, but he will do enough to make sure he and the receivers are clicking once the team comes back for the offseason training program, which begins in April.
One player Lock will likely not be throwing any passes to anytime soon is Von Miller. But the future Hall of Fame pass rusher did get catch Lock’s jersey after Sunday’s 27-17 victory over the Lions.
“I just wanted a Drew Lock jersey. I know how valuable it’s going to be in the future. I wanted to add it to the collection,” Miller said, going significantly further than just naming him the starting quarterback next season. “I wanted to make sure that I had that jersey. I have a Peyton Manning jersey. I have a Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady. I like Drew. I had to put him up too.”
John Elway and Vic Fangio like Drew, too. They just haven’t locked themselves in as him being their starting quarterback in 2020 just yet. But Drew has. He’s locked himself in. And he’s acting like it.
