Drew Lock Sends Message to Broncos Front Office: 'I Deserve to be an NFL Starter'

The Denver Broncos are only a few days away from the end of the 2021 campaign with only a Week 18 homestand vs. the Kansas City Chiefs left on the table. While some fans look forward to the merciful ending of yet another losing season, third-year quarterback Drew Lock is battling for his NFL life.

The season finale will be Lock's third start of the season after Vic Fangio chose Teddy Bridgewater as the victor of the Broncos' '50/50' quarterback competition in training camp. Since taking over as the starter, Lock has not turned the ball over.

But with rumblings that Fangio will be dismissed in the wake of a third-straight losing season, Lock's football future is very much in up in the air. There's no telling how GM George Paton might view Lock's standing with the Broncos or whether he's viewed internally as even a modestly plausible future franchise QB candidate.

That's to say nothing of what coach(es) might replace Fangio and how they'd feel about Lock. All the kid can do for now is make the most of his opportunity.

But regardless of what others might think, Lock remains confident that he's a starting-caliber NFL QB. He reflected on the ups and downs of his young career on Wednesday when he sat down for a virtual presser.

“Obviously there’s been some good and some bad, as there is with any quarterback," Lock said. "In these last couple weeks, I’ve done a lot of good things. I have. Like I said, this league is run by wins and losses, which we didn’t [win] these last couple weeks. But I feel like I’ve done a lot of good things, to the point where I am confident in myself that I deserve and should be a starter in this league."

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Lock knows that some coach, or GM, somewhere will have to catch the vision based on his tape. The hope is that it comes internally from the Broncos but he's a big boy and understands that every game put on film is an audition for 31 other clubs.

"It’s going to take other people watching my film and seeing that from me and wanting that for me, in whatever program that it is," Lock said. "But I do personally believe that [if] you give me a starting job, you let me prep throughout the week, I’m going to give you a damn good chance to win a football game.”

All bets are off on Lock's future as a starter but he is currently the only quarterback the Broncos have under contract for 2022. With rumors abounding about Denver looking at the trade market to guys like Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, there's no predicting how this offseason might unfold.

Don't be too shocked, however, if the Broncos opt to pass on what is considered a lackluster quarterback crop in the 2022 NFL draft class and come up short in the Rodgers/Wilson sweepstakes. In which case, Paton, and what coach comes in to replace Fangio, might find that Denver's best option in 2022 is Lock.

Crazier things have happened in the NFL.

You never know — if Lock leads the Broncos to an improbable win over the Chiefs, snapping what currently stands as a 12-game losing streak — it could completely alter his career trajectory and how he's viewed both internally and externally as a bonafide QB threat.

Easier said than done.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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