Drew Lock is still a baby in NFL terms.

After injuring his throwing hand and sitting for most of his rookie season, Lock was finally able to lead the Denver Broncos down the stretch in 2019, going 4-1 in his five starts.

Lock seems to have what it takes to be a winning quarterback in the NFL, at least physically. He’s mobile, with the ability to escape trouble and even gain yards on the ground when need-be. He’s got a quick release and is unafraid to make the throw in traffic when he has to. And, at times, his touch is tremendous.

But, the area of his game which is the worst is his deep ball, or throws over 10 yards.

As we get further away from the 2019 season, more data has been analyzed and Lock’s lack of deep-ball prowess has emerged multiple times. According to Pro Football Focus, Lock was last in the NFL at throwing it deep. The sample size — like his season in general — is small, but Lock went a mere 3-11 when throwing over 10 yards, with one touchdown but also one interception. His 55.9 passer rating was the fourth-worst in the NFL among starting quarterbacks, too.

This is backed up not only by Pro Football Focus, as we wrote about earlier in the offseason here, but by ESPN’s Next Gen Stats as well.

Drew Lock’s Next Gen Stats courtesy ESPN.

Drew Lock’s Next Gen Stats courtesy ESPN.

What does this graphic show? It breaks down areas of the field by depth and direction. For example, throws from the line of scrimmage to 10 yards outside the right hash marks he lit defenses up for a 116.5 passer rating. Green areas illustrate where he was better than league average, yellow is average, red is below average.

 

 

As you can see, Lock is a rockstar around the line of scrimmage and within 10 yards. His throws to the right over 10 yards are very bad, and his 20-plus yard throws to the left are as well. One added note: Lock’s deep passing between the seams was actually better than average. And, his 10-to-20 yard throws to the left look solid, too.

And, staying along those lines, Lock’s average depth of completion (4.8) was the second-lowest in the NFL last year:

The Broncos didn’t allow Lock to throw it deep very often as a rookie, but when he did, he struggled. That will certainly be a focus this season as he gets a full year under his belt and, with new offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur.