Drew Lock Urges Return of OC Shurmur, QB Coach Shula in 2021
Continuity sounds pretty good to Drew Lock right about now.
It's an entirely foreign concept to the 24-year-old, who's on his second offensive system in as many years as the Denver Broncos quarterback. And what seems like the millionth as a quarterback, dating back to his time at Missouri.
Lock, coming off a career-high four-touchdown outing against Carolina, appears to have finally grasped the complexities of coordinator Pat Shurmur's playbook and grown close with first-year QB coach Mike Shula — stark deviations from predecessors Rich Scangarello and TC McCartney, respectively.
Thus, amid speculation Denver could make "major changes" next offseason, perhaps to its coaching staff, Lock is campaigning for the status quo to remain in place.
“Yeah, that'd be awesome [if Shurmur and Shula returned in 2021]," Lock said Wednesday. "It'll be my first comforting feeling since my sophomore year of college to be able to have [University of Central Florida Head Coach] Josh Heupel back to back years. He's one of the more inspirational guys to me in my football career and it's probably because I ended up having him more than one year in my life. It's nice to have somebody that you're familiar with, that you feel like you have continuity with, and that you know he knows you and you know in your heart that you know him as a play caller. You know how they're going to coach. You know what they expect, and it'll just make me feel comfortable. I think it'll make everybody feel comfortable, not only myself. It's obviously important for the quarterback to feel comfortable, but as a quarterback you want everyone else around you to feel comfortable and I feel like having the same play caller in this organization for more than one year would be huge for us.”
The Broncos hired Shurmur and Shula largely to further Lock's development, to mold a low-floor, high-ceiling prospect into the bonafide face of the franchise. A tall task, but hardly impossible given the modern-day NFL landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic sapped that plan, erasing upward of 2,000 offseason reps (including four preseason games) and disrupting precious chemistry-building between player and coach.
Injuries to Lock's supporting cast — and then to Lock himself — shifted the focus to 2021, and whether the current arrangement is a tenable one. The answer was quickly trending toward "no" before the troika exhibited sparks of life in the Broncos' Week 6 win over New England, and again in their Week 8 conquest of the Chargers, and again in their Week 11 upset of Miami.
During that span, Lock progressed from simply a fourth-quarter QB to a QB who needed to get an early turnover out of his system to, as witnessed in Week 14, the genuine article at QB. Who didn't rely on "hero ball." Who committed zero (0) mistakes. Who, in a technical sense, was nearly flawless, logging a 149.5 rating on 21-of-27 passing for 280 yards and the aforementioned four scores in Denver's 32-27 victory against the Panthers.
From fan calls for backup Brett Rypien and mock drafts forecasting his replacement to capturing the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week Award. Small steps, but steps nonetheless. All forward.
The power of — ready for this crazy concept? — proper coaching.
"The past couple games I’m feeling comfortable with my prep and feeling comfortable with the practices I’m putting together," Lock said Wednesday. "It is starting to slow down. I’m starting to see it better and I start to feel better when I go out there. I’m not saying I’m fully there by any means. There’s still a lot of work that I need to do. I’m starting to feel better each week going into it. After this week of practice going into Saturday, hopefully we can go out there and the progress continues to make strides with the game slowing down and knowing what to expect after a good week of practice and a good week of prepping."
If those strides are met, Lock's wish undoubtedly will be granted. And continuity will be his.
Follow Zack on Twitter @KelbermanNFL and @MileHighHuddle
