ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drew Lock might start for the Broncos at some point in the 2019 season. Whether he does could depend on if the Broncos can turn their win last Sunday into a winning streak to climb back into the race. If they can’t, the public clamor for Lock to play will undoubtedly rise.
But this isn’t necessarily something that Offensive Coordinator Rich Scangarello wants to do — at least, not unless Lock is truly ready for the job.
“I’ve said this before: I just feel in this league, especially if you’re a spread quarterback, the ability to not play early on is everything and to gain confidence and learn from others,” Scangarello said. “I think he’s done everything he can to do that.”
In other words, don’t hold your breath on the first Lock start, even if the Broncos activate him from injured reserve at the earliest possible moment, in time for their Week 9 game against the Cleveland Browns.
To not start Lock at all this season would be to go against recent trends regarding quarterbacks who eventually find NFL success. Of the 18 active quarterbacks to break into the league since 2006 and eventually make a Pro Bowl, just one — Chargers backup Tyrod Taylor — did not make at least one start as a rookie. Eight of those 18 started all 16 games as rookies; another three started at least 12 games.
Sitting Lock for his entire rookie season would hearken back to a bygone era, when even first-round picks watched for a while. In the early-to-mid 2000s, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers all eventually developed into long-term starters. As rookies, they had no starts.
The NFL’s MVP last year, Patrick Mahomes, is closer to the old-school examples than those of recent years. He started a single game as a rookie for the Chiefs — in a meaningless regular-season finale in Denver. Had the Chiefs been playing for a division title or a playoff bye, that start would have gone to Alex Smith.
Mahomes was a spread quarterback at Texas Tech, which puts him snugly in Scangarello’s category of quarterbacks who need more time.
Scangarello’s former pupil with the San Francisco 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo, also watched from the sideline during his rookie season behind Tom Brady — a sixth-round pick in 2000 who didn’t start until his second season in New England. In 2014, Garoppolo threw 27 passes — 17 of which came in a meaningless regular-season-concluding game with the Buffalo Bills.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that Lock wouldn’t play. If he returns to the 53-man roster and becomes the No. 2 quarterback instead of Brandon Allen, he would be the next man up behind Joe Flacco.
It also doesn’t mean that Lock is not progressing as Scangarello would hope. Although the thumb injury derailed his on-field work, the first-year NFL offensive coordinator said that Lock has done a “great job” continuing to develop even as his work has been limited to mental repetitions and meetings.
But there is some grading on the curve here, given that Lock spent three of his four seasons at Missouri running a spread offense.
“He had a very long way to go when he got here, just from his foundation,” Scangarello said.
Beginning next week, Lock can take the next step, when he is eligible to begin practicing. His Sunday-afternoon work could be a while longer in coming.
