PFF Ranks Broncos' Drew Lock Dead-Last Among Starting NFL Quarterbacks
Let them hate.
Any Denver Broncos fan who's read and followed Mile High Huddle in 2020, or listens to or watches our nightly live-stream podcasts, is familiar with that phrase. At this point, the suspicion and skepticism — and in some cases — the outright disrespect of the Broncos from the national media has been so rampant, we've been able to coin a T-shirt. The shade has been too numerous to catalog.
Pro Football Focus, who's supposed to be different than the NFL.coms and ESPNs of the world because, after all, they're the 'leading' advanced analytics site, has been one of the biggest detractors of one Drew Lock. Despite Lock's 4-1 record as a rookie starter last year, and despite his historic achievements in setting both league and team records, PFF has dug its heels into the earth and pushed back against what was obvious to anyone paying attention to Broncos football from Week 13 on last year.
Lock is the truth.
In its latest volley of shade aimed at Lock, PFF just ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Take a wild guess where PFF's Sam Monson ranked Lock. Go ahead, I'll wait.
32. DREW LOCK, DENVER BRONCOS
Despite even less evidence of quality play than Haskins, optimism surrounding Drew Lock seems to be far higher. As rookies, Lock had fewer positively graded plays and big-time throws than Haskins, albeit on fewer snaps as a starter. He certainly flashed the potential to be good, but we just haven’t seen enough to suggest that he belongs any higher on this list yet. The encouraging news is that Denver threw everything it had at the roster this offseason to surround Lock with the best possible supporting cast, so he will have a dramatically improved group of players to help him thrive in Year 2.
You guessed it. Adding insult to injury, Monson ranked Lock behind every single quarterback of the 2019 draft class, all of whom Lock out-played last year.
You can make an argument that Arizona's Kyler Murray, the Offensive Rookie of the Year, was more impressive — and I'll listen — while pointing to the fact that he failed to elevate the Cardinals as a team in the same way that Lock so clearly did the Broncos.
Arizona finished 5-10 with Murray behind center. Meanwhile, the Broncos — whose roster similarly suffered from a dearth of talent and depth — entered Week 13 with just three wins in the standings. Lock's debut began that week and by season's end, the Broncos finished 7-9.
Yet, Murray checks in at No. 19 in Monson's PFF QB rankings, with Jacksonville's Gardner Minshew at 25, New York's Daniel Jones at 24, and Washington's Dwayne Haskins at 31.
It beggars belief that Lock would be ranked dead-last among starting NFL QBs, in the first place, let alone among his fellow class of 2019 signal-callers, but that's how far PFF has sunk. No longer viewed as a paragon of football veracity, PFF has lost its luster due to obvious biases and hot-take artists that have pervaded its ranks.
Let them hate.
Was Lock perfect as a rookie? Far from it, but to completely ignore and dismiss his accomplishments due to sample size is foolish and speaks to a bias that likely predates the Broncos' drafting of Lock in the second round.
There were many who dug in deep with their Lock evaluation as a draft prospect, and when he didn't go in the first round, those same people patted themselves on the back and took credit. But faced with new information by way of Lock's rookie production, instead of standing up and admitting that their predraft evaluation of Lock was misguided, many of those analysts only dug in deeper.
And here we are.
For most of Lock's detractors, including Monson, the argument boils down to sample size. Such opinions ignore the 'quality over quantity' distinction. To compare Lock to Haskins, and separate them by one ranking at the bottom of the league, is so misguided, I can't take it seriously.
With the 2020 season about to start in earnest, it's all fuel for Lock and company. Armed with a new arsenal of weapons and an experienced offensive coordinator/QBs coach combo, Lock is loaded for bear on this hunt.
It's going to be fun to see the likes of Monson and others eat their crow this year. When that time comes, I'll be the first to offer up a new bottle of Siracha to help them choke it down.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
