Predicting Whether Pat Shurmur Was the Right OC Hire for Drew Lock
This is yet another year where the Denver Broncos have made a change at offensive coordinator. 2019 saw the offense disappoint under the leadership of first-time offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and he failed.
Denver’s offense was inconsistent, complacent, lackluster, and failed to do the most important thing — put points on the board. While the majority of fans thought Scangarello did well, the statistical evidence and film said otherwise.
The front office and head coach Vic Fangio also felt Scangarello left too much on the table and fired him after taking a couple of weeks to think about it. There were multiple reasons Scangarello was jettisoned, including his lack of aggressiveness and not scheming to the strengths of the offense.
Fangio was the main voice behind his firing, which lends credence to the rumor that the head coach never really wanted Scangarello in the first place.
To replace him, Denver went with a more experienced play-caller with a more player-friendly offense, and also one with head-coaching experience in Pat Shurmur. Shurmur was the mastermind behind the 2017 Minnesota Vikings offense that ended in a deep a playoff run despite multiple changes at quarterback.
Shurmur brought with him quarterbacks coach Mike Shula and together they're tasked with developing quarterback Drew Lock and to put points on the board.
The big question with Shurmur is going to be, is he the right man for the job?
Looking at his history, it suggests that he might be. Of course, only time will tell.
Can Shurmur lead the Broncos' offense to a top statistical ranking, or even show improvement over the below-average 2019 unit? In the video above, I dig into Shurmur’s NFL resume to try and provide more clarity to these questions.
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