Drew Lock has been turning heads since he took the reins of the Denver Broncos with five games to go last year.
Since then, Lock has gone 4-1 as the starter and the second-year quarterback entered this offseason as the presumptive leader of Denver’s offense.
However, in order to be the leader, that means winning over the hearts and minds of key veterans on the team. And it looks like he’s doing just that, impressing vets new and old.
“He looks really good,” linebacker Todd Davis said of Lock. “I love the way he takes changes and tries to fit balls in tight windows. I love how quickly he gets the ball out of his hands when he sees the route or he sees the play develop it’s coming out now…I like what he’s showing us. I can see where he’s going to take it in the future. It’s going to be phenomenal.”
According to Davis, Lock’s game has grown in important ways. Not only is he willing to make those tight, contested throws, but he’s doing so with decisiveness.
Lock has not only won over his defensive teammates — along with fans — but, he’s leading his offensive group the right way as well.
“We’ve got Drew, and it’s his second year; a young, fiery quarterback that wants to be great,” new running back Melvin Gordon said. “He wants to be great [and he’s] hard on himself. He’s put in the time to get it.”
“Anytime he makes a bad throw, whether it’s pass catching, skeleton [drills] or anything, he’s like, ‘Hey, Mel, let’s run it back on the side. Let’s run that play back over,’” Gordon continued. “He wants to be perfectionist and I feel like as a quarterback—in some type of fashion—you have to be and think like that in a sense.”
Lock impressed in so many ways as a rookie; he used that quick release, he led with confidence, showed he could be mobile and enjoyed an over-100 passer rating when kept clean, too. However, he’s still finding ways to become more polished and how to connect with those key vets.
“Like I said, he’s a competitive person and I like that,” Gordon continued. “I like that in a quarterback. I like a guy that’s going to put it all out there on the line for you, and I feel like on game day, he’s going to give us that. You like to be led by guys like that.”
Gordon was brought in to be the bell-cow running back, even with Phillip Lindsay on the squad. Although, it’s important to note that while Gordon has a great nose for the goal line — with 47 total touchdowns scored over the last four years — he has only played one, full season during his career.
As for Lindsay, he’s the first Broncos back to rush for 1,000-plus yards in back to back seasons since Clinton Portis in 2002-2003, and he did that while being underutilized in his first two seasons.
“It’s going well and we’re competing,” Gordon said of Lindsay. “That’s the thing—we’ll make each other better.”
So, expect a continued healthy competition during training camp, and when the regular season kicks off — on Monday, Sept. 14 — assume we will see a mix of Gordon and Lindsay in the backfield.
