The Denver Broncos are underway with mandatory OTAs and the first 11-on-11 action of the 2021 offseason. As promised, the Broncos are in the beginning stages of a full-blown quarterback competition with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater taking reps with the first-team offense until the coaching staff sees separation one way or another.
That might not come until training camp, of course, possibly not even until the conclusion of the preseason. Although it would certainly be ideal to have a decision made sooner rather than later, it would be great to see someone create some separation and play well enough to win the job quickly.
Although everyone in Denver Broncos Country has a preference at the position (most preferring a trade for Aaron Rodgers at this point), the ultimate goal is winning football games. We’ve taken a look at what advantages Drew Lock has early on over Teddy Bridgewater, and as promised in that post, we’re also going to take a look at the advantages Teddy has.
The Denver Broncos acquired Bridgwater in a trade with the Carolina Panthers the day before the 2021 NFL Draft and got him for the low price of a sixth-round pick and a reduced 2021 salary.
Bridgewater is getting a shot with the Denver Broncos, he wasn’t necessarily brought in as a presumed replacement as some may have assumed.
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The Denver Broncos do not have as much invested in Bridgewater as they do Drew Lock, but the former first-round pick out of Louisville may have an edge over Lock in a few areas.
1. Bridgewater has played his best football on good teams
This may seem like we’re just stating the obvious, but there’s something to be said for some of the trends with Bridgewater here.
When he was drafted by the Vikings in 2014, they were coming off of a 5-10-1 season. Bridgewater was one of a handful of first-round picks the team had added between 2013 and 2014 and the Vikings were one of the up-and-coming rosters in the league at that point.
When he got his chances to start games, the Vikings played pretty well, going 6-6 in the games Bridgewater started. The following season, in 2015, Bridgewater helped lead the Vikings to an 11-5 record and a playoff appearance against the reigning NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks.
Not only was a missed field goal the only thing preventing the Vikings from a postseason win that year, but Bridgewater was a Von Miller strip sack away from potentially leading the Vikings to a win in Denver during their championship season.
When he was with the New Orleans Saints, Bridgewater went 5-1 as the starting quarterback and obviously parlayed that into a big-money deal with the Carolina Panthers.
It’s no coincidence that, on a rebuilding roster in Carolina, Bridgewater played arguably the worst he has in his career up to this point. Completing 69.1 percent of his passes, that is pretty relative, but his touchdown percentage was down, his interception percentage was up, and his QB rating was slightly down.
To use a basketball analogy, if Drew Lock is a shooting guard who prefers the three-point shot, Teddy Bridgewater is a ball-distributing point guard who is just as happy with an assist as he is a layup.
When you put the point guard type onto a roster that is young, going through massive changes on both sides of the ball in terms of personnel and coaching, it’s not entirely surprising that Bridgewater struggled some a season ago.
It’s also not surprising that a player of his playstyle excelled on the 2019 New Orleans Saints or the 2015 Vikings, very good all-around rosters with playmakers and strong defenses.
The 2021 Denver Broncos are much more in line with the 2015 Vikings/2019 Saints compared to the 2020 Carolina Panthers in terms of their all-around roster construction, which bodes well for Teddy given his history of playing well in those kinds of surroundings.
2. Bridgewater will likely be the better practice QB
It can’t be overstated that, while Bridgewater is not as physically talented as Drew Lock, he’s certainly been more accurate with the football and over a much longer period of time.
In training camp and OTAs, you can’t sack the quarterback. Although Bridgewater can’t just sit back there and get touched by all 11 defenders before making a throw, there’s a slight advantage here in terms of being able to work from a mostly clean pocket.
Lock as a gunslinger and Teddy as a game manager makes this point pretty crucial when it comes to the way each guy practices.
It’s not out of the question that Lock would make more mistakes against the Broncos’ number one defense in practice than Bridgewater given he is typically trying to make the big play.
Bridgewater’s conservative nature can only take a team so far, but it might help him win a camp battle against Drew Lock if it means making fewer mistakes and more consistently accurate throws.
The Denver Broncos may have to weigh preseason games pretty heavily because of this factor.
3. Pat Shurmur’s offense is not new to him
Bridgewater was injured in the 2016 offseason when both he and the Vikings were expected to make a major leap as NFC contenders.
That injury happened the same year that Pat Shurmur came onto the Vikings’ staff, and Shurmur remained in Minnesota through the 2017 season as Bridgewater worked his way back from what could have been a career-threatening injury.
Although I feel like Drew Lock has a definite advantage of being the incumbent starting quarterback in Denver, it’s a great advantage to Bridgewater to have already spent two years absorbing Pat Shurmur’s offensive scheme.
Even if Bridgewater had never played with Shurmur or practiced with him or been in his QB room, I think Bridgewater’s edge as a veteran player is something majorly in his favor.
With that being said, having experience with Shurmur in their time together with the Vikings is a big deal for Teddy as far as this competition is concerned because he’s not going to be spending the entire Summer learning a language he’s never seen before.
4. He might be exactly what the Broncos’ offense needs
Perhaps the biggest factor going in Teddy Bridgewater’s favor right now? He might just be exactly what the Denver Broncos’ offense needs.
Of course, every NFL fan wants their quarterback to be Mahomes-like in their ability to make plays, make ridiculous throws, and be a threat as both a runner and passer with transcendent physical skills.
Those types of guys are not easy to find and while Bridgewater is much more of a game manager, the Denver Broncos can get back into the playoffs with that.
If the last five years of quarterback play for the Denver Broncos had a cumulative QB rating, not including passes thrown by position players or punters, it would be a rating of 78.1.
That would have been the 5th-worst mark in the NFL last year out of 35, dead last in 2019, fourth-worst in 2018…you get the idea.
Bridgewater’s career rating is 89.5 and his lowest rating as a full-time starter came in his rookie season in the league with an 85.2.
In the last two seasons, Bridgewater’s QB rating has had him hovering in the top 10-20 range among all starting quarterbacks. If his QB rating of 99.1 with the Saints in 2019 had qualified him for a league ranking position, he would have been right behind Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott at 11th in the NFL.
QB rating is not the end-all for quarterbacks, but there’s something to be said of Bridgewater’s consistently solid rating and how it’s always been higher when he’s on better overall teams.
Putting a quarterback that could rank between 10-20 in QB rating over the course of a season with a potentially top-five defense and one of the best sets of weaponry in the league? That could be a winning formula for the Denver Broncos, and if Drew Lock proves to be erratic, Bridgewater might be exactly what the team needs to win ball games, even if they’re not scoring 40 points a week.
Final Thoughts
There has long been plenty to like about Teddy Bridgewater. Game managers in today’s NFL get somewhat of a bad rap because how long can you really win long-term with guys who are not exactly raising all boats around them with elite play?
That’s a slightly unfair expectation, and despite Bridgewater being less-than-spectacular in some ways, he’s got so much to offer in terms of his accuracy, timing, poise, experience, and he can still make plays on the ground.
He proved that a season ago with a career-high five rushing touchdowns.
Though Bridgewater is not a gunslinger like Drew Lock, he might be the most consistently solid QB the Denver Broncos have had come through since Peyton Manning.
Again, we’re not grading on the best curve here.
Although the Denver Broncos did not invest a first-round pick in Teddy Bridgewater, their GM George Paton had a hand in doing exactly that, and he — more than anybody — knows what the team is getting from this guy.
Denver Broncos: 53-man roster prediction at 2021 OTAs
The Denver Broncos will have some difficult decisions to make regarding the roster leading up to the 2021 season. Who makes the final 53?
At this point, it feels like Drew Lock should be the odds-on favorite to win the Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback job thanks to his long-term prospects, but Teddy Bridgewater has a lot going in his favor and could wind up being the opening day starter himself.