Justin Simmons Shares Behind Closed Doors Look at Drew Lock's Leadership Style

Drew Lock provided the Broncos locker room with swagger and confidence. Justin Simmons recently let fans in on Lock's leadership style.

Justin Simmons was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round back in 2016. Despite his rare talent and excellence as a player, he arrived in Denver at the beginning of an unprecedented era of failure and losing as the team tried to rebuild after winning Super Bowl 50. 

Outside of his rookie season in which the Broncos finished 9-7 in Gary Kubiak's final year as head coach, Simmons experienced some dark times in organizational canon and a revolving door of botched quarterback acquisitions, none of which could establish themselves as anything more than a temporary band-aid. 

However, the Broncos feel like they've finally 'bounced off the bottom' — to use GM John Elway's vernacular — and a big reason for that is the emergence of QB Drew Lock. Lock, a 2019 second-round pick, was inserted as the starter in Week 13 of last season after spending 11 weeks on the club's injured reserve list. 

Lock would go on to lead the Broncos to a 4-1 finish down the stretch, capturing the heart of Broncos Country and captivating the locker room. In a recent sit-down with Bleacher Report's Adam Lefkoe, Simmons explained what's got him so excited about the 2020 season and revealed a unique feeling he got from Lock that no Broncos QB had given him up to that point in his career. 

"That's probably the thing I'm most excited about for this season," Simmons told Lefkoe. "I know everyone says it, but he has—even in the locker room, behind the cameras and closed doors—he has this sense of, like, confidence but it's not cocky. It's just like 'watch and follow me' type of swag. That's just something that I've felt like the previous couple of years we've been there we just might not have had. Not even getting into the systems and all that stuff. But I haven't really felt that, I guess."

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When describing Lock, that S-word is the one his teammates most commonly utilize. What exactly does 'swag' mean? 

Obviously, the word is derived from 'swagger', which means to 'walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive way.' 'Swag' means something like 'bold self-assurance of style or manner.' 

For a team that had been wandering the QB desert for three and a half years, suffering unprecedented depredations from losing double-digit games two seasons in a row, Lock's swag was like manna from heaven. A lifeline for the Broncos players just looking to keep their heads above water. 

That type of aggressive confidence can have an inspiring and galvanizing effect on people. It's contagious, especially when accompanied by results. 

Lock's results in the standings matched the swag he was putting off, and as you can see, even the Broncos' most veteran team leaders couldn't help but be affected and influenced by it. The Broncos brass most certainly was, as evidenced by the team's offseason maneuvers to build the nest around Lock and stockpile weapons. 

"I'm excited for Drew because he closed off the year on the right foot and I'm excited for him to start out the year, especially with the weapons that he has," Simmons told Lefkoe. "I'm just excited." 

With a rebuilt interior offensive line, an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver and tight end positions, and a Pro Bowl duo at running back, Lock is going to be, as they say, loaded for bear on this hunt. Combined with the timely arrival of venerated QB developers in OC Pat Shurmur and QBs Coach Mike Shula, all the stars seem to be aligning for Lock heading into Year 2. 

It's going to be fun to see how it unfolds for the Broncos in 2020, who drew the 12th-hardest strength of schedule in the NFL. Meanwhile, Simmons is quickly approaching the July 15 deadline for him to agree to a multi-year contract before he'll be forced to play out the 2020 season on the franchise tag. 

Elway has never failed to get a franchise-tagged player signed to a multi-year extension ahead of the summer deadline, but until the deal is done, it's something to monitor. Training camp is scheduled to start less than two weeks later on July 28 and from there, the whirlwind of the NFL season will begin in earnest, barring some unforeseen setback. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.