Drew Lock: 'Nothing Set in Stone' on Broncos Confirming he's 2021 Starting QB
Less than a week from now, Denver Broncos GM John Elway will hold court in his annual end-of-season press conference. Among the open topics expected to be resolved next Monday is the job security of head coach Vic Fangio and the future of Drew Lock as the Broncos' starting quarterback.
There have been reports on both issues that intimate Elway is inclined to stick with Fangio and Lock but until it's heard from the GM's lips, the questions will remain unresolved. When it comes to Lock's job security, there's a chance Elway might not give the absolute answer that solidifies things.
It took Elway a long, long time to voice anything concrete on the topic of Lock. In fact, it wasn't until the 2020 NFL Combine that Elway finally revealed that "Drew is our plan." Will the GM keep fans and media on pins and needles again? I doubt it.
Asked whether he's heard from Elway or Fangio that he'll be The Guy again for the Broncos in 2021, Lock said, "Nothing set in stone, as it is every year in the NFL."
The Broncos still have one game left to play — a homestand against the Las Vegas Raiders. From there, we'll here from Elway the next day and meanwhile, Lock has a plan in place to attack the offseason.
He realized that last offseason, despite some advice from Peyton Manning and Elway himself, Lock did not full grasp the scope of what he should be doing. With the experience of playing a (dang-near) full season, the scales have fallen from Lock's eyes and he now can see where he needs to devote his time.
"There has definitely been a plan in place," Lock said of the offseason. "[I've] been thinking about it. Last year, I had an idea of what I needed to do and this year, looking back on it, I had no idea what I needed to do. There's just a lot that comes with actually playing a full season of NFL football."
With a larger sample size and body of work, Lock can hone in on the specific areas that have been exposed as weaknesses, or 'tells' or just plain old bad technique. His focus this offseason is to iron those wrinkles out of his game.
"I'm going to focus on the majority of the bad stuff, the majority of what I can do better, the majority of, this is the style of footwork I took this year compared to last year, so I need to start repping this footwork more in the offseason," Lock said. "There's just a lot of things that change and develop over time in this one year. There's a lot of things I can go correct and make a lot better this offseason. Putting pen to paper, it's exciting for me. It's exciting for me to be able to sit back and see it and realize what I can get better at."
Lock is definitely under the gun. The pressure on a starting quarterback — especially one in Denver — is enormous and can be withering. However, that mantle of expectation is not something Lock is unaccustomed to.
"You feel that [pressure] from day one when you're playing quarterback for any team, so it's just a given pressure that' is put on you," Lock said. "But it's one that I'm excited about. It's one that I'm going to carry with me into this offseason and have an offseason unlike any other."
By this time next week, there's a good chance Broncos fans will know if Lock is going to be the quarterback again in 2021. In the off-chance that Elway is tight-lipped or stingy with offering up anything definitive, it's a question that might not get answered until draft day.
But if Elway still believes Lock is "the plan", he has more to gain by anointing Lock than he would have to lose by posturing for the sake of the other 31 teams that the Broncos might be in the market for a QB. Football espionage is important when it comes to keeping opponents off the trail, or from deducing what you're going to do in the draft, but when it comes to the mental and emotional well-being of your young starting QB, the downside outweighs the benefits.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
