Denver Broncos should look to add quarterback in NFL Draft

If the Denver Broncos plan to compete in the AFC West soon, they need to find their next franchise quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Drew Lock has traits. He has size at 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds. He’s got a big arm, able to spray the ball to all portions of the field. He has some mobility. It’s enough to tantalize a general manager, or even a team executive who was once a Hall of Famer at the position in John Elway.

However, Lock hasn’t looked good in his first two seasons. While he went 4-1 as a rookie in 2019, the underlying numbers suggested reality was about to hit hard. An hit hard it did in 2020, when Lock led the NFL with 15 interceptions despite only playing 13 games.

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Interesting, former teammate and current Houston Texans running back Phillip Lindsay spoke on XM Radio about Lock on Wednesday, giving his thoughts on the former teammate, per Mike Klis of 9News Denver.

“Drew holds his own future. Things have been set in place for him to be successful. He has to take advantage of it. … He needs to continue to develop, that’s on him. He’s in a battle between him and him. Nobody else.”

Entering his third season, Lock hasn’t shown enough to make any reasonable person believe he’s the future in the Mile High City. With the Denver Broncos picking No. 9 overall in the upcoming NFL Draft, general manager George Paton should be considering all options at the position in Trey Lance, Justin Fields or Mac Jones. Rather than waiting for one of them to fall, Paton could trade up into the top five, guaranteeing himself at least one of those names being on the board.

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Considering the AFC West is home to Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, the Broncos will have a tough time competing unless they find a significant upgrade at quarterback, either in Lock becoming much, much better or nabbing his replacement. The defense is good enough to be a top-tier unit, and the offense has weapons. Yet with the current setup under center, Denver is destined to be a third-place team at best.

With less than a month until the 2021 NFL Draft, Paton and the Broncos can continue making calls, evaluating their options and deciding the best course of action. It’ll be fascinating to see what they come up with.