PFF Ranks Broncos' Drew Lock Last (Again) Among NFL's Starting QBs for 2021

Since before Drew Lock was a pro, the NFL's 'leading analytics' site has seemingly had it out for him. Even when Lock took over as the Denver Broncos' starter in Week 13 of his rookie year — going on to win four of his five starts to end the season — Pro Football Focus couldn't find anything positive to write about him.

From jokes about Lock's mom (embarrassing) to a constant litany of criticism, PFF has built a monument of shade to the Broncos' third-year signal-caller. The latest indignity is par for the course.

Just as he was accustomed to taking marching orders from his offensive coordinator as a player, it's good to see that ex-NFL QB Bruce Gradkowski can fall in line and shoulder editorial mandates as well. Gradkowski ranked all projected 2021 starters and wouldn't you know? Lock checked in dead-last.

32. Drew Lock, Denver Broncos

The reason the Broncos acquired veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to compete with Lock for the starting job is because Lock had the 32nd-ranked passing grade (63.4) out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks. He must find a way to clean up his 23 turnover-worthy plays and make better decisions. Lock shows promise at times — he had the eighth-best passing grade (92.3) when throwing between 15-20 yards and executing play-action pass. The leash won’t be long. If given the opportunity, Lock has to play consistently and smart for Fangio to stick with his young quarterback.

Back at it. 💪 pic.twitter.com/j3zOHz0RKS
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 17, 2021

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I'm sure the reason the Broncos opted to acquire Bridgewater was because GM George Paton pored over PFF's subjective grade for Lock and the epiphany was complete. Don't all teams base their roster-building decisions around PFF's grading system? Bridgewater's arrival surely had nothing to do with Lock's relatively concerning injury history as a pro, or the team's absolute dearth of veteran QB talent behind him.

As someone who's covered every single day of Lock's pro career, and much of his collegiate body of work, it's easy to point out the flaws displayed in his game. Since before arriving in Denver as a second-round pick in 2019, the book on Lock was that he was a very talented and toolsy QB lacking refinement.

Raw. Some viewed him as an NFL project. On one hand, you can say that every young pro is a project in his own way while on the other acknowledging that true 'project' QBs don't hit the ground running as Lock did as a rookie.

He crashed back to Earth in 2020 on the heels of an offseason training program and preseason erased by the pandemic while trying to navigate those pitfalls with yet another brand-new offensive system to learn — but without the requisite reps to master them. Still, Lock got off to a modestly solid start, putting the Broncos in position to beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 if Jerry Jeudy doesn't drop a third-down pass in the four-minute drill and head coach Vic Fangio doesn't absolutely mismanage the clock in the clutch.

True disaster struck the next week when Lock was hit from behind in Pittsburgh by Bud Dupree and driven into the turf injuring his throwing shoulder. Lock did not return to the lineup until Week 6 but when he did, he led the Broncos to a hard-fought win over the New England Patriots, becoming the youngest QB to ever win in Gillette Stadium — despite his receiving corps suffering from one of the worst collective cases of 'the dropsies' I've ever seen.

From there, things got dicey as Lock finished that game in New England with two fourth-quarter interceptions, which springboarded him through seven very ugly quarters of ensuing play. Once again, though, Lock's tremendous ceiling flashed as he led a historic comeback that saw the Broncos erase a 21-point fourth-quarter lead to beat Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8.

Lock giveth and he taketh away, as is the wont of many (if not most) young QBs. His performances in Weeks 9 and 10 were cringeworthy, showcasing alarming signs of regression — both from a technical and intangible perspective.

However, with all those reps stacking up (you know, the very reps he was deprived of in the new scheme and had to learn on the fly in live-bullet scenarios), Lock turned a palpable corner from Week 11 on. He led the Broncos to an upset win over the Miami Dolphins before the NFL made Denver a whipping boy for the mask-wearing infractions of Lock and his fellow QBs Brett Rypien, Blake Bortles, and COVID-19 infected Jeff Driskel.

The league office strong-armed the Broncos into playing the New Orleans Saints without a quarterback, humiliating one of the most storied franchises in NFL history when commissioner Roger Goodell could have just as easily accommodated Denver by rescheduling for Tuesday as he had with other teams earlier in the season that found themselves in similar dire straights.

Lock returned in Week 13 to face the defending World-Champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead. Despite an encouraging start to that game, Lock and the Broncos could not keep up with Patrick Mahomes who set about exploiting the injury-decimated Denver defense.

Week 14 saw Lock take it to Teddy Bridgewater and the Carolina Panthers to the tune of 280 yards passing and four touchdowns, a career-high. The final three games of the year were each a loss for the Broncos but Lock's play, while imperfect, continued to display signs of progress and development.

Lock finished his second year with 13 starts (12 actual games, though), passing for 2,933 yards and 16 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. Counting his rushing touchdowns, Lock was responsible for 19 scores, and, factoring fumbles lost, 18 total giveaways.

In the face of the number of obstacles the Broncos found themselves in last year, both as a result of the pandemic and unfair league treatment, to say nothing of the epidemic of injuries the team sustained, I'm not sure what more anyone could have asked of Lock. He hung tough and navigated the trial-and-error pitfalls of being a second-year QB that had to learn a new system in a football classroom of games that counted.

Was he up and down? Absolutely. Lock was inconsistent, especially in the middle of the season, but critics like PFF will focus solely on the downs and completely omit the ups.

Now, Lock will have to sing for his supper. The Broncos' decision to pass on drafting a quarterback was (believe it or not) a rather sizable vote of confidence in Lock. But with so many coaching jobs on the line this year, the team can't afford to gift Lock anything.

If Lock recapitulates his Week 14 performance in Carolina last year and vanquishes Bridgewater in open competition, he'll have earned the right to start for the Broncos. Will that happen? Bereft of a crystal ball, I don't know.

Now that he's getting a traditional offseason, has 18 NFL starts under his belt, is getting his No. 1 wideout back in Courtland Sutton, and gets — for the first time since his sophomore/junior years at Mizzou — the blessing of having the same offensive system in consecutive seasons, my gut tells me the best is yet to come from Lock in the Orange and Blue.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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