Confident in Command of Seahawks' Offense, Drew Lock Could 'Play a Game Tomorrow'

RENTON, WA - Only a few weeks after learning he had been traded to the Seahawks, Drew Lock knew he needed to get to work to give himself a chance to win the starting quarterback job in the summer.

But there was a big obstacle standing in Lock's way. Preparing to move to the Pacific Northwest to join his new team for their offseason program, he and his fiancee Natalie needed to pack everything up at their house, which will never be mistaken for an easy undertaking. It's one of the harsh realities of life in the NFL for players who abruptly change teams in different parts of the country.

Wanting to get off to a fast start, Lock made a risky decision putting his relationship on the line, asking his fiancee if he could travel to Dallas to work out with several of his new teammates. Understanding his situation, in the ultimate act of selflessness, she allowed him to travel south and sling the pigskin while she stayed back and finished boxing everything up with his mom and sister.

What kind of bribe did Lock have to give up to orchestrate that type of miracle? Apparently, as he explained following Wednesday's minicamp practice, it boiled down to putting a rock on her finger.

"I got her a ring in February," Lock laughed. "So that's a good one there to make up for it."

While Lock may need to do more to compensate for his fiancee's generosity than simply popping the question down the road, the decision to meet up with teammates in Dallas shortly before the start of the offseason program has paid dividends for the former Missouri star. Now in the middle of the final phase of Seattle's offseason program, those previous reps have helped the gunslinger build early chemistry with several players.

Among those who were in attendance to snag passes from Lock at those workouts in early April, veteran receiver Cody Thompson made a strong first impression on the quarterback, who said he "deserves a little more respect than he might get." The two have been seen connecting on numerous occasions during drill work and 7-on-7 over the past few weeks.

In addition, after admittedly being "overwhelmed" at first by coordinator Shane Waldron's scheme and terminology on the first day of install, Lock has acclimated quickly to a new offense. Aided by similarities to the system he ran as a rookie with the Broncos in 2019, including similar formations, play call verbiage, and play action concepts, he credited Waldron and quarterback coach Dave Canales for easing the learning process and becoming comfortable running the show.

Drew Lock says he could "play in a game tomorrow," feels very comfortable with #Seahawks offense, which has similar verbiage to offense he played in as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/eL7BxjWGOA
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) June 8, 2022

"I feel really, really, really good about this offense," Lock explained. "I feel like I can go out and play a game tomorrow and succeed. That's a testament to the coaches in there and the guys around me, teaching me up on little intricacies of plays they've picked up over time. Just an overall group effort and I really appreciate everyone that's gotten me this far and developed me in this offense."

Thus far, Lock and Geno Smith have been splitting up reps on the field during the offseason program, though it's difficult to say how many snaps they have each played with a projected first-team offense. In controlled, non-contact practices, Seattle has not done any 11-on-11 drills outside of walkthroughs and several receivers have been sidelined by undisclosed injuries, so the offense hasn't been close to full strength.

With that said, Lock has showed off his arm talent on several occasions throughout OTAs and minicamp with several different wideouts on the receiving end, including finishing off Wednesday's practice by bailing to his right and throwing a missile to tight end Tyler Mabry in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. In Tuesday's session, he unleashed a frozen rope to Aaron Fuller on a dig route to beat tight coverage for the score.

On the flip side, Lock also got burned on Wednesday by cornerback Ugo Amadi, who previously trained with the quarterback and has been watching film with him before practice. Putting that extra studying to use, the fourth-year defender jumped a curl route perfectly and made a house call, returning the interception the other way for six points.

In the middle of an intense quarterback competition for a second straight offseason, Lock has leaned on lessons learned after losing his starting job to veteran Teddy Bridgewater last August. Specifically, he's not hyper-analyzing how he stacks up compared to Smith and who "wins" each day, focusing instead on whether or not he got better and consequently made others around him better.

Hopeful to achieve a different outcome than last time around, Lock has pinpointed accuracy, decision making, and timing as the three crucial areas that will determine who wins the job.

"The biggest thing for me right now is changing footwork from what I did last year to this year, just working on the timing of my feet. And the more and more I get better with the timing of my feet, the more accurate the ball comes," Lock elaborated. "The decision making is there right now. It's just about timing my feet up with these new route concepts and delivering an accurate football. And if I feel like I can check all three of those marks at the end of these passes, then I was doing my job and I got to keep making sure that if I throw 20 balls, I got 20 triple check marks on each of those plays. That's really my checklist."

With one minicamp session and three OTAs left until Seattle closes down shop for a six week hiatus prior to training camp, a starter won't be named anytime soon and the real test awaits going against full defenses in padded practices. There's a long way to go in the competition and right now, neither Lock or Smith looks to have much separation in the race, with the latter still holding a slight advantage due to familiarity with Waldron's scheme.

But if he can check off those three boxes on a consistent basis and stack together a bunch of great days in camp, there's no question Lock will be well-positioned to make the most of his second chance and find himself under center for the Seahawks against his former team in September. And if that happens, he'll know who to thank at home for helping him hit the ground running.