Rapoport: Drew Lock's Arm Talent was 'One of the Big Draws' for Shurmur Choosing Broncos
After the New York Giants fired Pat Shurmur, he was a coach in high demand around the league. Shurmur had a lot of different options and reports indicate as many as four different offers from teams to be the offensive coordinator.
However, he chose Denver. A team coming off a third-straight losing season. Why?
Drew Lock.
Thanks to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, we have greater insight into why Shurmur ultimately chose to come to Denver, and also bring along his trusted QBs Coach Mike Shula.
"He really liked Drew Lock and being able to work with someone with that kind of arm talent was one of the big draws to Denver," Rapoport told Alexis Perry of the team site.
Shurmur himself has talked about how high the Giants were on Lock during last year's draft and how "certain" the team was that he'd be a successful NFL quarterback. The Giants picked Duke's Daniel Jones but clearly, based on what Shurmur has told people around the NFL, he felt like he'd missed the boat with regard to working with Lock.
Lock's traits scream to every offensive coordinator in the league. He's a natural thrower of the football and has that big arm than can rocket the pigskin downfield.
On top of Lock's arm talent, he's a phenomenal athlete. A former basketball star, Lock can use his athleticism to get himself out of trouble and buy time to either throw or advance the football with his legs. He's also got the prototypical NFL size (6-foot-4, 228 pounds).
Those are just the physical boxes Lock checks. Although he didn't get a lot of credit for this as a draft prospect coming out of Missouri, Lock has a high football IQ. That was proven by how quickly he hit the ground running as a starter despite his 10-week exile on injured reserve last year.
Having to learn a new offensive system almost every year since he was a freshman in college has served to keep his football intellect sharp, like how a military brat who's moved around the world constantly quickly hones great social skills.
Throw in the confidence, swagger and leadership capabilities, and it's easy to see why an outside coach in high demand would want to sign on with the Broncos to get a chance to work with a young QB like Lock just entering his second year in the NFL.
If Shurmur could get Pro Bowl-caliber play out of an extremely limited quarterback like Case Keenum, imagine what he could do with a gunslinger like Lock.
"I think it goes without saying that Drew Lock is more talented than Case Keenum," Rapoport said. "Pat Shurmur got a lot out of Case Keenum. He made him a viable NFL quarterback, got him paid—which, obviously, Denver knows. Drew Lock is way more talented. There are people that felt like Drew Lock was the No. 2 or 3 most-talented quarterback in the draft last year and from what I understand, Shurmur was one of those people. He really liked Drew Lock."
It's going to be fun to see how the story of this coach/QB combo unfolds.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
