Aside from the Broncos, I have been paying close attention to former Broncos QB Drew Lock who is now the backup quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. His development has been interesting to me. I feel like he was not given a fair chance in Denver because of how the coaching staff mismanaged him. He made strides from year 2 to year 3 but Fangio decided to start Teddy and that decision is a big part of why Lock is backup today still. Lock is not absolved of blame as he still had an opportunity to beat out Geno in the preseason last year but he threw 3 interceptions in the preseason finale deciding to anoint Geno the starter a very easy one. Despite all that, I firmly believe that Lock has improved a lot and it is evident to see that based on these 2 preseason games:
Footwork and Pocket Navigation
His footwork looks much cleaner. He does not have the happy feet that he once had his first 2 years in the league. He is standing in the pocket with confidence and as a result, he can make all the tough throws. He also doesn't bounce out of the pocket early. Instead, he navigates it well and steps up when needed which is always so good to see.
2. Eye Manipulation
One play that comes to mind is his first touchdown vs the Vikings in the preseason opener 10 days ago. He looked the safety off to the left and which then opened up the middle of the field but even then the receiver was still tightly guarded by 2 defenders and Lock was still able to fire a laser at the receiver displaying that arm talent that he always had dating back to his Mizzou days. He has always had the physical tools to play QB at a high level in the league but it felt like he wasn't mentally ready. Now it feels like his mental game is catching up to his physical game and he looks very much in control and command of the offense.
3. Humility
One of the things I loved about Lock when he entered the league was his arrogance and swag because it was so different from the bland style of quarterbacking the Broncos have experienced since Peyton Manning retired. However, this league will humble you very quickly and it's clear Lock has learned a lot throughout the years. He seems much more focused, especially in his press conferences. He's not doing those extracurricular activities such as dancing or rapping on the sidelines in-game. Though I loved it when he did those things at the moment, I prefer the more modest version of Lock.
4. Tim Jenkins
In my last post, I mentioned Tim Jenkins and what he does on youtube and all his other social media platforms. Why I bring him up now because he is a firm believer in Lock and he always uses tape to back it up. He has done plenty of videos on Lock in the past and he dropped one recently on Thursday talking about how much Lock has improved especially in pocket navigation and eye manipulation. If a former QB believes that Lock is still legit, I have every reason to be optimistic about him as well and those who think Drew Lock is a bust or a Paxton Lynch 2.0 are box score specialists.
Link to the Thursday Video: https://youtu.be/zSqONUDPCT0
All the clips above are from the video posted above.
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