John Elway made a definitive statement with his latest draft class

In case you were wondering if the Broncos saw Drew Lock as “The Guy,” John Elway just carved it in stone.

Years from now, if you reference “The Drew lock Draft” there might be some confusion as to whether you are referencing the draft in 2019, in which one pick was all about Drew lock, or the draft in 2020 in which half of the picks were all about Drew Lock.

Jerry Jeudy, K.J. Hamler, Lloyd Cushenberry and Albert Okwuegbunam, four of the Broncos’ first six picks in the draft, were all very obvious investments in the future of the Broncos’ promising young quarterback.

In Jeudy, they got the best route runner to enter the draft in years. A separation king, a quarterback’s best friend. A guy with superstar potential.

In Hamler, they got a speed demon. A guy who can take a short pass to the house, but more importantly, a guy that defenses will have to respect over the top. And thus, a guy who will open up space for the rest of the weapons on offense.

In Cushenberry, they got a day-one starter at center. A guy who—if he pans out the way we project him to—could be Drew Lock’s battery mate for a long, long time. A guy who may just be the finishing touch on one of the better interior offensive lines in the National Football League.

And then, if you weren’t sold enough, the front office put the final stamp on the Drew Lock draft, bringing in Okwuegbunam, Lock’s favorite red-zone weapon from his days at Missouri. In their two years together at Mizzou, Lock hit Okwuegbunam for a whopping 17 touchdowns.

But that’s not all.

“We talked to Drew this morning and he loves you to death,” Elway told Okwegbunam just after Denver inked the selection.

Oh, really?

“The first phone call we made today, Vic and I made—was to Drew to find out about Albert and see what he thought about him,” Elway later told the Denver media. “He had a much better junior year when Drew was there than he had last year. We wanted to find out and get the inside on him. Drew really liked him and gave him really high praise and thought he was a guy that could come in here and help us and talked about how he could really, really run… When Drew gave him the seal of approval, we were glad—he was our target in the fourth round and he was still there, and we got him.”

Not only did Denver stock up on weapons for Lock, not only did they go out and get a guy that he loved to throw to, but they gave him the opportunity to have direct input on the selection and valued his “seal of approval.”

These are the types of things that teams do when they have a franchise quarterback.

Now, it should be noted that Lock does still have a lot to prove before he is given that label, but this draft was all about Elway making sure that Drew Lock has every resource he needs to become the franchise quarterback. Instead of waiting and seeing before acting, the Broncos are being proactive and making sure their young gunslinger has every opportunity to succeed.

There’s a notable narrative out there that John Elway may have never made it past his first season in this day in age, after going 4-6 as a starter, completing just 47.5 percent of his passes and throwing just 7 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. But of course, we know that he didn’t have much help around him back then. In fact, it took many years before Elway got the supporting cast he deserved.

With the best young quarterback he’s ever had on his hands, the now-GM won’t let the same thing happen.

“I think with the way Drew played at the end of last year, we saw the signs of a guy that has a chance to be very successful in this league,” he said, “but to do that, he’s got to have some good people around him.”

John Elway believes Drew Lock is “The Guy,” and he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he’s right.