King: Broncos GM George Paton 'Felt Duty' to Give Drew Lock 'Legitimate Shot' as QB1
For months, large swaths of Broncos fans have wondered, some angrily, some publicly, why Denver passed on a pair of blue-chip quarterback prospects — Justin Fields and Mac Jones — in the first round of April's Draft.
On Monday, plugged-in NFL reporter Peter King unveiled the answer. Which is two-fold.
Beginning with the fairly obvious ...
"Paton gets knocked for not choosing Justin Fields or Mac Jones with his first first-round pick ever last April (he took Alabama cornerback Pat Surtain), and he’ll have to live with the results," King wrote in his latest Football Morning in America column. "But he wasn’t convinced Fields or Jones would be a franchise quarterback; had he been, he probably would have taken one."
Paton, according to King, also remained unconvinced his franchise quarterback wasn't already on the roster. Despite trading for veteran Teddy Bridgewater on the eve of the Draft, the rookie shot-caller made an executive decision to move forward with 2020 starter Drew Lock.
In fact, rather than gamble on a player he "liked but didn't love," Paton "felt a duty" to grant Lock a "legitimate shot" at QB1 duties, a final chance for the consistently inconsistent third-year pro to assume the organizational mantle.
“Plus—and this is not why we did it [draft Surtain]—but quarterbacks are available more than franchise corners every year, at least the last couple of years,” Paton told King, perhaps indicating a future run at Green Bay Packers superstar Aaron Rodgers.
Say this for Paton: he stuck to his convictions. The Broncos not only eschewed Fields and Jones — and every other passer in the class — but mindfully opted against pursuing a veteran like Rodgers, Houston's Deshaun Watson, or the retreads on the free-agent market.
He wanted Lock vs. Bridgewater. He's getting Lock vs. Bridgewater. Both are stuck in a dead heat through nine training camp practices, neither creating legitimate "separation," to borrow head coach Vic Fangio's term. It could be weeks before a winner is crowned.
This was the plan all along, set in motion at the outset of the offseason, of which Lock had no prior knowledge. The incumbent wasn't briefed on Denver's plans nor Paton's reluctance to overhaul the most important position in sports. It unfolded in front of his eyes as it did the rest of us.
Except his reaction, compared to the aforementioned masses, was slightly different.
“Of course I watched the draft,” Lock told King. “I was elated we picked Pat.”
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