Pat Shurmur Confirms Giants Heavily Scouted Drew Lock in 2019 Draft
Call it serendipity but it's almost like the Football Fates willed Drew Lock and Pat Shurmur together. With Shurmur joining the Denver Broncos earlier this week as the team's new offensive coordinator, he and Lock have now been put on the same football path.
It could have happened a year ago and it perhaps almost did. With the New York Giants sitting with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and being in the market for a quarterback, many draftniks penciled in Lock to the Giants in the ubiquitous mock drafts.
However, the Giants surprised almost everyone, instead choosing to draft Duke QB Daniel Jones. It set up perfectly for the Broncos to take Lock at pick 10 but GM John Elway accepted a deal with Pittsburgh to trade back to pick 20. But again, Elway's decision wasn't Lock but instead, explosive Iowa TE Noah Fant.
All the while, Lock continued to plummet and ended up slipping out of the first round. Elway would eventually package a trade to move up and select Lock with the No. 42 overall pick in round two, one selection after taking Kansas State OL Dalton Risner. While his draft-day plummet certainly wounded Lock's pride, the young signal-caller has been of the opinion that it happened the way it did for a reason, because it landed him in the right spot with a bonafide long-term tight end and offensive guard to grow with. Serendipity.
As for Shurmur, ever since the ex-Giants head coach landed in Denver, fans have been dying to know whether he liked Lock in last year's draft. On Thursday, Shurmur illuminated the subject in a conversation with Broncos TV, confirming that the Giants really liked Lock.
“We did. Obviously, we were in the market for a quarterback last year and we had a very, very high opinion of Drew," Shurmur told Phil Milani of the team's site. "We did a lot of work on him. We were very certain that he was going to have an outstanding career—he’s got a bright future—and I’m really looking forward to being able to work with him.”
Apocryphal buzz has since permeated the Mile High City, supposing that maybe Shurmur did want Lock at pick No. 6 but was overruled by Giants' GM Dave Gettleman who liked Jones. It's all unconfirmed rumor and while we'll probably never get direct confirmation of that specific question, it's good to hear Shurmur confirm that he really did and does like Lock.
In fact, it's safe to assume that Lock's presence in Denver, combined with a few other factors including his mutual respect for Vic Fangio, was one of the deciding draws for Shurmur signing with the Broncos. Shurmur was in high-demand following his dismissal by the Giants at the end of the season, as there were reports that both Chicago and Minnesota were in pursuit of his services as offensive coordinator.
Suffice to say, with Shurmur now in the Orange and Blue, one of his top priorities will be helping Lock turn the corner in his second year and beyond.
"Obviously, the development of our young quarterback is going to be critical as we move forward," Shurmur told Broncos TV.
Shurmur has already begun the process of acclimating to his new football environs and rolling up his sleeves. The process of self-scouting the Broncos' current offensive personnel will soon follow on Shurmur's agenda.
First, the new offensive coordinator needs to hire the guy who'll serve as Lock's position coach. From there, Shurmur will ascertain what the strengths and weaknesses of Lock and his offensive brethren are, so that he can design a scheme around them.
"I think we’ve got to take a good look at the players that we have," Shurmur said. "We’ve got to make sure we’re doing the things that they do well."
Coach Fangio said in his statement on the Shurmur hire that he wanted an OC with the "flexibility to adjust the offense to our players and opponents". Shurmur checks that box, and also brings another of Fangio's qualifiers to the table — an "outstanding track record of developing younger players."
Just look at what Jones did last year in New York as a rookie. Under Shurmur's purview, Jones started 12 games, completing 61.9% of his passes, while throwing for 3,027 yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Jones had three different games with at least four passing touchdowns including one with five. It goes to show how getting the right coaches around a young quarterback can make all the difference.
It all bodes well for the future of Lock, which also portends optimistically for the Broncos' offense. If you could buy stock in a quarterback, I'd be advising you to get in on Lock now so that you could reap the dividends next fall. Even if the Broncos don't end up winning a lot of games, it's not hard to see this offense taking a massive leap forward over last year's version.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
