Drew Lock has a few things going for him vs. Teddy Bridgewater
1. Drew Lock is the incumbent
It doesn’t always mean everything, but in the case of the quarterback competition between Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, Lock being the incumbent means something.
The Denver Broncos brought back offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur for some continuity but there would not be any continuity if Lock is not the starter in 2021, now would there?
Everyone knew that Lock was going to get the job in the 2020 offseason and the Denver Broncos really made no attempt to create any competition. The way Lock finished the 2019 season, John Elway and Vic Fangio probably figured getting an experienced offensive play caller in the building and letting Rich Scangarello find his footing elsewhere was the way to go.
The pandemic had a substantial effect on everyone, but for Drew Lock and the Denver Broncos’ offense, it really threw a wrench in things.
If you think that’s just an excuse and a pro-Drew Lock thing to say, look at the words of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning:
"I don’t make excuses or defend Drew and he’s been very accountable in his comments and certainly knows what he needs to do and has a plan to do it. But I will say the greatest benefit I had as a player was having the same offensive coordinator (Tom Moore) for my first 13 years. Tom Brady had the same offensive system for every year (in New England) and Tampa last year pretty much got it to his system (later) into the season. It makes a big difference when you have continuity. In Drew’s second year, he was already on his second coordinator and then you add in the COVID offseason. That’s tough for any quarterback. I can tell (during the meetings) that he was excited about getting into the facility, getting with Pat Shurmur and being on the same page because they didn’t get to that last year. They didn’t start meeting until August, which is insane. Peyton Manning via The Denver Post"
In this case, Lock being the incumbent starter at quarterback matters. He spent a year building a rapport with all of the young weapons on the Denver Broncos’ offense. He had a great chemistry going with Courtland Sutton at the end of the 2019 season and into 2020 training camp prior to Sutton’s season-ending injury in week 2 of last year.
If consistency mattered enough to the Denver Broncos to keep Shurmur around, then there’s no doubt that — even just on some level — keeping consistency at QB is something that matters to them as well.