ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Is Drew Lock THE guy at quarterback for the Denver Broncos or not?
That's been the biggest question around the team since last winter. Lock has made 11 career starts -- not even a full season's worth of games. He has flashed enormous potential; he has also demonstrated he has work do.
During his six starts this season, Lock has often showed all of it during the same game with the bad and the ugly showing up early before the good arrives late.
"I'm confident in what I can do with the football, which for some reason, we get to see a lot of in the second half, not the first," Lock said. "We have to figure out a way to get that done. We've got to change something in the week. Not just myself, but everybody -- extra film, 10 minutes from everybody, an extra 10 minutes on the field, it's got to be something. We're going to go back and watch it and do some brainstorming. We'll figure it out."
In many ways Lock is the developing prospect the Broncos believed he was when they drafted him. They didn't pick him with the 10th pick of the 2019 NFL draft, they traded down to No. 20. They didn't pick him at 20 -- they took tight end Noah Fant. They didn't pick him at No. 41, in the second round, they took guard Dalton Risner. They selected Lock with their fourth opportunity to do so, at No. 42, because they liked what he could be and also recognized the work that needed to be done.
The two issues that come up the most when personnel executives around the league are asked to evaluate Lock are his pocket presence -- when he should move and when he needs to stay in the pocket -- and slow starts.
This season Lock is a 57% passer in the first half of games with one touchdown and one interception. He is a 65% passer in the second half of games with five touchdowns and two interceptions as well as a rushing touchdown. All six of those second half touchdowns have been scored in the fourth quarter of the last two games combined.
"Being able to make clutch throws in critical situations, that's very important and it was hitting the fan that night, for sure," Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said in the wake of the Broncos' comeback win over the Chargers in Week 8.
"Now, the flip side of that, and once the dust all settles, you guys say, 'OK, how do we execute better early?' And I think that's the challenge moving forward. I think we would all agree that shooting 3-pointers at the buzzer is not the way to do this thing."
Some in the league believe Lock, when he is under the guidelines of a game plan, including the opening script, is pressing more, playing tighter, by hesitating before making an easy short or intermediate throw that is available. And that hesitation forces him, at times, to leave the pocket too early when he could slide or step up to create space.
He often retreats in those situations and puts himself in a more difficult spot, again often overlooking shorter completions for riskier throws down the field.
It all bears out in the numbers. When the Broncos have trailed and Lock has played with more assertiveness during the second half of games, his yards per completion have been lower and the Broncos have scored more.
He's tried for more big plays in the failed first half of games -- 11.7 yards per completion -- as the team has scored less and he's completed far fewer passes. He's averaged 9.6 yards per completion in the second half of games when he's found more success overall. And while defenses have backed off some in the second half, in the past two games in particular, many of those completions are available earlier in games as well, including some of the "baby throws" Lock has spoken about.
In the end, Lock understands he's under the microscope.
"[Quarterbacks] are 100% going to take the blame ... and quite honestly I'm way more willing to take the blame every single Sunday," Lock said. "I should, I'm the guy with the ball in his hands. We get a drop, so what? I'm going to find a way for us to get to next first down on the next play. I think I'm good enough to do that and I always have, and I always will."