Denver Broncos have not done enough to help Drew Lock succeed

Drew Lock does not deserve all of the blame for the offensive issues by the Denver Broncos.

When we think of an NFL franchise, we often point the finger at the quarterback position when things go very wrong. That’s no different when it comes to the fans of the Denver Broncos and their quarterback Drew Lock.

We can point out how we think each play should have turned out. We can analyze literally everything Lock does right and what he does wrong. But how much is actually his fault?

We’ve seen quarterbacks hold onto the ball longer than they should. The Broncos aren’t the only team that has had a quarterback that does that. However, we’ve seen it for a while now. You can put the blame on Lock, but you have to realize that the same thing happened with Jeff Driskel when he filled in.

That blame should be on the offensive coordinator—Pat Shurmur. It appears that he is part of the team’s problems in not giving Lock the best chance to succeed right now.

On the offensive line, the Broncos have struggled heavily. When you look back on some of the misfires by Lock, and his tendencies to take off and run, it’s because there is pressure in his face far too often. While the Broncos hired Mike Munchak to hopefully fix their long-lasting offensive line issues, it still needs a lot of work.

Ja’Wuan James, the team’s highly-paid right tackle, hasn’t played much at all since his arrival (and he won’t be playing at all this year), and his replacements have backfired.

It was obvious that the team has needed help on the offensive line and it’s disappointing that they did not go out to the trade block and search for that help.

The Broncos offense is still a young group that needs time to work together but it’s hard to work together efficiently when there are not the right opportunities.

Courtland Sutton is missed to a great extent. After a solid first two years in the league, Sutton suffered a season-ending injury this year. The fact that he’s not there to help the offense really is a disappointment. But I’m really not sure how much he would have helped.

The play calling has been very, very questionable this year with Shurmur leading the offense. From not getting running back Phillip Lindsay involved more, to the lack of smart creativity (screen plays, maybe?), and then running the ball when you should have passed—or vice versa—things really need to take a 180.

I’ll be honest: I was on the “fire Pat Shurmur” train yesterday. After sleeping on that idea, I do think that Lock needs to have coach continuity. Shurmur is going to need to think of ways to fix these issues that are very present. Give Drew Lock a better chance at success.