In the Wake of Allen's Impotence, Broncos are Fresh out of Excuses on Starting Drew Lock
In the wake of their blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Denver Broncos have no excuse left as to why Drew Lock shouldn’t be the starting quarterback next week. Lock has been back practicing for the last two weeks, and has looked like the best quarterback out there.
It's time to give the rookie the starting job and a full week to prepare as the starter.
Brandon Allen has been abysmal for the Broncos over the last six quarters of play, and there is no other way of putting it. He showed promise in Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns, where he completed 12-of-20 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
However, two of those Week 9 completions were big plays made by the receivers, in Noah Fant and Courtland Sutton, that either bailed Allen out of a bad throw or made him look better than he is.
Against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, Allen posted a putrid 43.6 completion percentage, followed by 40% vs. the Bills. Those numbers are the worst for a Broncos quarterback since the Tim Tebow days.
Allen is not the answer, but Lock might be. There is no way of knowing for sure until the Broncos get Lock out there on the field. With Los Angeles Chargers coming to Denver next week, a defense with a lot of issues, it's the perfect time to make the change.
Lock can go out there and potentially gain confidence going forward by debuting against a team that won’t be overly-challenging, and do so at home before having to go on the road in consecutive weeks. There is nothing left to stop the Broncos from getting Lock out on the field so they can begin to get an evaluation on him.
Why it Matters in 2019
Getting answers on Lock is a must. The Broncos can’t afford to pass on a quarterback in the 2020 class, likely to hold another top-5 pick, by hoping that an unseen Lock is the team's future. The Broncos need answers on Lock and they can only get them by seeing him in action against NFL competition.
And what better time to expose a young quarterback to NFL-level competition than in the back-end of a failed season in which the team is five games below .500?
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