George Paton Addresses Drew Lock Topic Publicly for First Time: 'He Can Develop'
George Paton was hired as the Denver Broncos' general manager on Wednesday. After a flight home to Minnesota and some quick travel/packing arrangements, Paton was back in the Mile High City on Saturday, taking the GM's office overlooking the UCHealth Training Center practice fields that belonged to John Elway for a decade.
Day one on the job likely included interviews with the Broncos' current personnel and scouting staff, which includes Paton's nephew Rob Paton who is a scout. Somewhere along that timeline, Paton provided his first public quote on the topic of Drew Lock to NBC Sports' Peter King.
“Drew’s talented, and I think he can develop,” Paton told King. “Obviously, you want to bring in competition to every position.”
Like his friend and mentor Rick Spielman (Vikings GM), Paton understands that building a championship-caliber roster starts with the draft. It doesn't end there, however. In the same breath, Paton emphasizes the imperative of "drafting and developing" the Broncos' young talent. The truth is, Lock represents not only a recent second-round investment by the team but also the blood, sweat, and tears of the coaching staff's combined efforts to develop him over the last two years.
As GM, Paton is already on record as saying that he plans to be "aggressive but not reckless" while striving to be "involved in every deal" out there. There's some hyperbole to that last comment but it conveys the new GM's philosophy of being engaged with the free-agent and trade market without promising to close every deal he gets "involved" in.
Paton believes the Broncos are a "sleeping giant" and if that's true, part of waking it up has to be solving the quarterback position. The Broncos need clarity at quarterback and fast.
Recent reports indicate that Paton is inclined to roll into Year 1 as GM with Lock under center as the incumbent, however, his remark to King makes plain his priority of turning over every stone in an effort to upgrade or improve each position. If Paton zeroes in on a quarterback he believes would be an immediate upgrade to Lock, that's a deal the GM likely pursues.
Sitting here in mid-January, however, there's no obvious, absolute evidence that such a QB upgrade is out there for the taking. Sure, there are rumors of veterans who could be made available via trade like Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Atlanta's Matt Ryan, but calculating the cost of landing either would be a big factor in evaluating whether each would represent a true upgrade over Lock because Paton would also have to weigh what capital the Broncos would have to relinquish in exchange.
In the NFL draft, there's just one quarterback who could unanimously be considered an immediate upgrade over Lock but the Broncos — sitting at pick No. 9 — won't be in position to even sniff Clemson's Trevor Lawrence. Some fans will argue that one of Ohio State's Justin Fields, BYU's Zach Wilson, or North Dakota State's Trey Lance would be an upgrade but that's all subjective.
What matters is Paton's opinion on the issue of each QB prospect in the 2021 class, which will likely be influenced by Elway and head coach Vic Fangio, who are rumored to be "pushing" for Lock to remain The Guy next season. King's read on Paton echoes what every Broncos insider has said over the last five days.
Paton’s obviously feeling his way—Saturday was his first day on the job—and it’s fair to give him a couple of months before choosing a quarterback path. It’s most likely someone will have to beat out Lock in camp or during the season.
Paton will seek to upgrade the QB position one way or another. Odds are, that upgrade comes in the form of a more proven and competent veteran who can step in and on one hand mentor Lock, while on the other, pushing him through some good old-fashioned competition anxiety.
However, don't think for a second that Paton hasn't evaluated Lock's tape. That was probably the first thing he did after accepting the Broncos' interview request. Subsequently, Paton's view that the Broncos' young roster can turn the corner in a hurry likely includes Lock in the picture.
"I do think that they do have a good core of young players, that with this coaching staff, will keep getting better," Paton told Phil Milani of the team website last week. "Yes, on the tape I evaluated, I do think it's a roster that can develop quickly."
One thing is certain; there are better veteran backup options that will be available to Paton's machinations than Jeff Driskel. The Broncos need that mentor/threat behind Lock but also a guy who — considering Lock's injury history through two seasons — could step in and competently keep the Broncos competitive as a true stop-gap.
Paton needs to find his Bubby Brister or Case Keenum — the latter of whom the Minnesota Vikings had to turn to as that fail-safe in 2017 when starter Sam Bradford went down early in the season. Keenum did his job as a stop-gap, keeping the Vikings competitive and winning 11 regular-season games on course to an eventual loss in the NFC Championship game.
Lock's days of being grandfathered the starting job in Denver are most definitely done. Paton could be inclined to give him the edge on the depth chart to open training camp in 2021 but this time around, the talented, but enigmatic, QB will have to sing for his supper.
As it should be.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
