How the Shurmur Hire Affects Broncos QB Drew Lock

The fortunes of the Denver Broncos hinge on one player — Drew Lock. The team fully recognizes this reality, which is why the decision to fire Rich Scangarello and replace him with a new face is a fateful one.

Indeed, the fate of the Broncos as an organization now rises and falls based on how well new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur takes to having Lock as his quarterback.

The question every Broncos fan has to be asking themselves at this point is whether the Shurmur hire is a good or bad thing for Lock. The Broncos obviously believe it's a great thing and there's no reason at this stage to disbelieve the opinion of the team.

Vic Fangio's opinion on the matter was spoken loudly through the direct action of firing Scangarello and hiring Shurmur. If the Broncos' head coach didn't believe Shurmur was the best thing for Lock's future, and thus the team's, the move wouldn't have been made. For now, fans should take comfort in that fact.

Passing the Torch

The good news is, Shurmur's track record as a coach is replete with successes at the individual QB level. And when a QB is successful, it typically trickles down to the offense and thus, the team and it all comes out in the wash.

In the case of Scangarello, he had a strong rapport with Lock. We can criticize Scangarello's body of work from a results- or statistics-based perspective but the one triumph he undoubtedly had was the accelerated development of Lock.

Scangarello is a great teacher and he has an eye for talent. That ability to roll up his sleeves and get down into the muss with his QB shouldn't be taken lightly. As a second-round pick last year, Lock turned the corner quickly, especially considering his 10-week exile on injured reserve. That's a credit to Scangarello, as well as QBs Coach T.C. McCartney.

Now it's a matter of the Broncos passing that baton mid-race to Shurmur. The biggest risk the Broncos took in firing Scangarello was doing anything to mitigate the tide of momentum Lock had built up heading into the 2020 offseason.

A Step Back to Launch Forward

The young QB now has to learn another system, which, in and of itself, implies that at least a temporary pause in the upswell of momentum will have to occur. To assimilate Shurmur's scheme, and the cognitive energy it will require, will temporarily require Lock to take a step backward.

The key from there will be using that step back as a foundational foothold to leap forward. Lock has to be able to leverage what he learns in Shurmur's scheme so that when the 2020 NFL season rolls around, he can be significantly farther ahead in his developmental curve than he would have been in year two alongside Scangarello.

A step backward in order to take a quantum leap forward. Easier said than done.

However, the Broncos are confident in Lock's ability to quickly assimilate a new system. After all, Scangarello's playbook was the fourth Lock had to learn over a five-year period.

Change is almost all Lock knows and instead of that being a weakness to his game, he's been able to weaponize it and use it as a tool to keep him sharp. There's little doubt in my mind that Lock will struggle to learn Shurmur's nomenclature as it's based in the same West Coast Offense verbiage he had to cram last year under Scangarello.

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Coaching to Lock's Strengths

A few of Shurmur's calls or plays will differ slightly from the nomenclature Scangarello used but even though Lock will have to take that temporary step backward to learn the differences, once he has it down, the new scheme will allow him to play significantly more to his strengths.

Like most college quarterbacks, Lock played mostly out of the shotgun at Missouri. With Scangarello's offense, one of Lock's biggest challenges was mastering the footwork of dropping back from under center and also reading the field pre-snap from under center, both of which were almost completely alien to him.

Although it was far from perfect, Lock checked off both boxes with aplomb as a rookie. With Shurmur, though, he'll be returning primarily to a shotgun-based offense, which, for the QB, will be like putting on an old, familiar glove. It'll feel like home, which will allow him to play faster and with more confidence.

On top of that, Shurmur's offense is designed to attack the opposition vertically every chance it gets, which also plays to a couple of Lock's strengths. One, his aggressive gunslinger mindset. And two, his big right arm.

Shurmur's offense is significantly more QB-friendly than Scangarello's, with less focus on throwing to the tight ends and running backs. That doesn't mean either position group will be ignored in the Broncos' passing attack under Shurmur, but it simplifies things for Lock and allows him to, again, play faster.

A QB-Friendly Resume

Although Shurmur's track record as a head coach is underwhelming, he's almost always exceeded expectations with whatever quarterback he's worked with. Daniel Jones is a good example of that last year with the New York Giants.

Jones appeared in 13 games, starting 12. He went 3-9 as a starter but he completed nearly 62% of his passes while throwing for 3,027 yards, with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Under Shurmur's wing, Jones had three different games with at least four touchdown passes.

Why? Because Shurmur's scheme is QB-friendly. It simplifies the reads for the QB and allows them to play faster. It all bodes well for Lock.

The Broncos believe that by bringing in Shurmur, Lock's development heading into year two will be fast-tracked. That doesn't mean that fans should expect Lock to have a Lamar Jackson-esque breakout season but he will produce some prolific stats, which will trickle down to the skill-position players.

The Takeaway

The Broncos are going to score more points in 2020. Combined with Vic Fangio's expertise on the defensive side of the ball, it all portends well for the Broncos heading into next season. Both sides of the ball will be playing to their strengths with each side being driven by an experienced coach that knows how the sausage gets made in the NFL.

It's going to take some work but that's not a deficient ethic on Lock's part. He's worked hard last year as a rookie without the benefit of being 'the guy' or having the full faith and support of the organization behind him.

The Shurmur hire was all about maximizing Lock and accelerating his development in year two. I look forward to seeing how it plays out for the Broncos. It's easy to say now, but a year from now, when we look back on the Shurmur hire in retrospect, my bet is that fans will be thanking their lucky stars that Fangio had the intestinal fortitude to fire Scangarello and give Lock every possible coaching tool to be successful in 2020.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.