Fangio Cites Two Areas as Evidence That Drew Lock has Developed

Has Drew Lock shown any signs of improvement or development this year? Or has it been all regression as his biggest critics contend? Vic Fangio answers.

Drew Lock is coming off the 14th start of his young NFL career. The Denver Broncos came a lot to closer to beating the Kansas City Chiefs than they have in the last three games but still came up short on Sunday 22-16. 

Lock went 15-of-28 (53.5%) for 151 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. After his first pick, which came on Denver's opening drive, he settled in, similarly to his last start vs. the Miami Dolphins, and mostly played an efficient brand of quarterback. 

The second interception came on the Broncos' final possession of the game on a 4th-&-5 with no timeouts and 33 seconds to go, punctuating his Week 13 performance perfectly. Such has been the story for Lock this season; one step forward, two steps back, then two steps forward, one step back. 

He's now 7-7 as an NFL starter. But the critics have come out of the woodwork, perhaps due in part to Lock's role in the Broncos' Week 12 travesty of a football game in which the team was strong-armed to play by the NFL without a true QB (thanks to Lock's imperfect mask-wearing discipline). 

His worst critics say that not only has Lock not progressed this year, he's done the opposite; regressed. What does head coach Vic Fangio say on the issue of whether Lock has produced any evidence of development in Year 2? 

First off, Fangio is tired of the turnovers. Barring that, the coach pointed to two key areas as evidence of Lock developing. 

“We've got to cut down on the interceptions, obviously," Fangio said on Monday. "We just need to see the continued improved play and I think converting the third downs last night showed that a little bit. We had a good day in the red zone—that shows development in a quarterback. Just need to make good throws, good plays, good reads, run the offense from the start of the huddle to the line of scrimmage. We're not always spot on right there and we need to be."

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Lock's Broncos went 7-of-13 on third down (57%) at Arrowhead Stadium and a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone. Lock was responsible for both touchdowns in the red zone, with the second being both a great pass and a great catch by Tim Patrick, who tippy-toed in for the score. 

The Broncos entered Week 13's matchup with the Chiefs converting a sorry 36.1% on third down (ranked 30th) and just 48.2% in the red zone (30th). Red zone efficiency is determined by how many touchdowns are produced on possessions that reach at least the opponent's 20-yard line.  

That is an improvement and it is evidence that things might be clicking for Lock. But it's far from definitive proof. 

Maybe Lock's improved play in these key areas was an outlier. We'll find out in the remaining four games. Fangio steadfastly believes Lock will do just that. 

"I think Drew has got it in him and we're going to keep working with him on that," Fangio said. 

Although it might be a biased view, Lock believes things are clicking better for him. With a new offensive coordinator in Pat Shurmur that did not come with the traditional offseason reps to assimilate the scheme for Lock thanks to the pandemic — which canceled OTAs and the preseason, erasing upwards of 1,400-1,600 reps — it's possible that the second-year quarterback simply needed the time on task to gel with his new play-caller. 

"Personally, I feel like I'm seeing it," Lock said post-game in Kansas City. "So, I try to see it better and better each week. I know I've been seeing it, of course when you're seeing it with your own eyes, but feeling the game—dealing with what these defenses are doing and how they're trying to stop us. Definitely farther along and feel better than I did a year ago coming here."

It could be 'quarterback-speak' or even empty platitudes from a frustrated player. But as a student of the game, I would concur that Lock has shown modest improvement in Year 2 in certain areas. 

The frustrating thing about it, though, is that he's also shown regression in other areas, specifically in his footwork/technique and decision-making. Last year, Broncos' ex-OC Rich Scangarello did a good job of coaching Lock to not repeat mistakes. For whatever Scangarello lacked as a tactician in the Xs and Os department he seemed to more than make up for as a teacher and QB developer. 

Shurmur and QBs Coach Mike Shula have not had the same success in helping Lock to avoid repeatedly stepping in the same pitfalls. I attribute that more to the lack of reps and time on task together than anything, but it is alarming to put it mildly. 

Lock will get four more games to make his case to Fangio and the Broncos' front office that he should get 2021 as one last audition to be the future franchise guy. Steady improvement, eliminating the same old costly mistakes (turnovers), and better consistency is what it'll take to secure that benefit of the doubt. 

It's possible it doesn't happen and the Broncos opt to go a different direction at quarterback next year. It's equally possible, maybe even more so, that GM John Elway is inclined to view 2020 as a 'mulligan' type of season for both Fangio and Lock alike, considering all the outlier conditions and mitigating factors of this pandemic-influenced campaign. 

Time will tell. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.