Drew Lock’s name was mud after last year. Let’s not mince our words. Lock displayed a couple of good games and flashed his promising arm talent. Still, for every wow throw, there were some that induced bouts of dry-heaving.
After a strong showing in Preseason Week 1, Lock may be on the verge of silencing all of his critics. Lock showcased his rifle of an arm multiple times, including a perfectly thrown bomb that hit KJ Hamler in stride for an 80-yard touchdown.
DREW LOCK 🎯 KJ HAMLERpic.twitter.com/YVJMBHahxN
— Roto Street Journal (@RotoStJournal) August 14, 2021
On his very next drive, he very narrowly missed Jerry Jeudy for what would have been another deep touchdown throw. Still, Lock didn’t let that miss deter him, as he found Jeudy in the end zone for his second TD of the day.
Lock finished his day going 5-for-7 for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
WHY SHOULD WE BE OPTIMISTIC?
Lock’s physical tools have never been in doubt. His horrible decision-making, turnover propensity, and inconsistent accuracy were highly concerning.
So much so, the Broncos signed Teddy Bridgewater this offseason. Denver was also a popular potential landing spot for Justin Fields during the draft. John Elway also linked himself to disgruntled Deshaun Watson in trade talks.
Still, are we, perhaps, being unfair to Lock? After all, as PFF’s Sam Monson wrote “We don’t need to go back very far in time to find a quarterback who was written off as never going to achieve great things based on his NFL play at the time.”
Monson, of course, was talking about last season’s breakout quarterback phenom Josh Allen. In his article, Monson noted how unprecedented Allen’s meteoric leap as compared to league history. Still, the similarities in arm strength and arm talent are evident.
Last season, despite all of his struggles, Lock’s confidence in himself never wavered. Monson noted that Lock recorded a 6.4% big-time throw rate. Ironically, Allen’s big-time throw rate was only 5.8%. This just highlights the upside the Lock drips with. This also shows the rewards the Broncos could reap by being patient with Lock.
In fact, if his week one performance was any indicator, the Broncos win total could benefit immediately.
Lock moved up to QB28 (+4 vs ECR) on The Wolf’s most recent 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings update.
