Recently a former Broncos great, Jake Plummer, sat down with Jon Heath of USAToday to promote his upcoming movie, Kick, in which Plummer will play a CFL quarterback attempting to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a Grey Cup Championship.
Plummer gave his thoughts on Drew Lock heading into the 2021 season, as well as what a legendary quarterback like Aaron Rodgers could bring to Denver.
“Drew Lock’s been crucified – not crucified, I shouldn’t say that – but he’s been, he’s definitely been picked apart and not lived up to all these fans’ expectations, but I see him having a really good year this year actually.” Plummer said. “Hopefully he’s put in the work this offseason and, you know, there’s nothing more than critique that can turn you around and make you want to go out and prove everybody wrong. Sometimes that’s all the fuel an athlete needs.”
Hopefully that criticism served as fuel to Lock’s fire, as he will have to be much-improved to take advantage of the talented roster their first-year general manager, George Paton, has constructed.
“I think they’ve got a pretty [expletive] good team coming into this year,” Plummer said. “I think he can be pretty good to lead ‘em.”
No matter how much Lock improves though, he won’t be as good as the reigning MVP, Rodgers. Adding Rodgers is an option Plummer is also interested in for the Broncos, even despite how late it is in the offseason.
“[Rodgers] is brilliant,” Plummer said. “He has a photographic memory, I’m sure he could look through the playbook and have it down in a couple days.”
Plummer also touched on the competitive atmosphere Rodgers could bring to the team, which is something they haven’t really had since Peyton Manning retired.
“If he could fall into that organization, I just think his talent and his abilities take a pretty talented guy who’s just kind of been mediocre because he’s never had that motivation or taste to now go, ‘Holy [expletive], we could really win this,'” Plummer said. “And [that player] will pick up his game and spend the extra time he needs to spend to get better to raise the bar of everybody around him. Kind of like Peyton [Manning] did when he came here. If he became a Bronco, you know, good for that organization, hopefully good for him, but I just hope he gets a chance to play where he wants to play and it’s set up for his success.”
The Broncos supporting cast could also serve as an upgrade for Rodgers, much like he would serve as an upgrade for them.
“Dude, Aaron Rodgers’ receivers, any one of them that’s gone for 800 yards or 1,000 yards, they’re probably pretty good receivers, but I’m pretty sure he’s a large reason why,” Plummer said with a laugh. “Thereason why on some of it, but yeah, he’s a great player and would raise everyone’s belief. The fans, everyone in the whole entire Broncos Country would go, ‘Oh, we’ve got a chance now for sure!’
Though, just because Plummer loves Rodgers, don’t let that fool you into believing that the former Arizona State product isn’t entirely ‘Locked In’ for the 2021 season.
“Now, I wish they’d say [we’ve got a chance now] with Lock, just to get that kid the confidence that any young kid needs, but I still think they’ve got a pretty [expletive] good team coming into this year,” Plummer concluded. “I think he [Lock] can be pretty good to lead ‘em, but who knows with the Aaron Rodgers situation how that’s going to play out.”
