Broncos' OC Pat Shurmur Details Two Traits that Set Teddy Bridgewater Apart in QB Competition
As the dust settles on the Denver Broncos' decision to abandon the Drew Lock era and throw in with Teddy Bridgewater at the helm, the aftermath has provided additional background on what prompted the coaches to go the direction they did. Demoting last year’s starter was only done after a detailed analysis, and following Thursday's practice, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur highlighted two areas where Bridgewater had the vital edge in the battle:
- Pocket presence.
- Communication in the huddle.
“Teddy was trained as sort of a West Coast quarterback coming out of college. He’s been trained all along to work his feet through the pocket,” Shurmur said. “He did a lot under center through his career so he’s able to take a drop and then work through his pocket and he does the same thing in the shotgun. So, even though he’s worked on it, it’s very natural for him.”
After the Seattle game, the coaching staff came away impressed by how Bridgewater navigated the pocket and delivered the ball under pressure. That gave the 28-year-old an edge in his battle with Lock, who likes to escape from the pocket and throw on the run, a trait that has led to turnovers in the past.
Shurmur went on to detail how Bridgewater’s confidence and strong ability to communicate with his teammates in the huddle also stood out in a positive way.
“I don’t have to say much to [Bridgewater] when we’re either making a correction or I’m giving him an atta boy, but how he communicates with the line, how he works in the huddle,” Shurmur said. “He’s done it for a very long time. He was in the huddle as a quarterback in college; he’s been in a huddle through his career in the NFL.”
Lock’s West Coast learning curve would appear to be vastly different from Bridgewater’s, reading between the lines of Shurmur's remarks Thus, it was with a degree of sympathy that the Broncos' OC mapped out that Lock’s communication skills have been playing catch-up, dating back to college.
“Sadly, for young quarterbacks, that’s a big piece of this that a lot of them miss because they’re always in the shotgun looking at the sideline,” Shurmur said. “There’s not much communication going on in college. So, although it seems simple, there’s a lot that goes into that quarterbacks when they come out of college into this league need to learn. Drew sort of mentioning that tells me that he’s watching it and he’s seeing how it has to be done.”
Shurmur’s evaluations of both signal-callers would imply that Lock has a long row left to hoe on his journey back to the starting lineup. It has been argued that the 24-year old’s football education should take place on the field, but for now, Lock will have to pick up the nuances of quarterbacking from the sidelines.
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