Denver Broncos: Drew Lock must do what Paxton Lynch could not

In just about two weeks, the Denver Broncos will open training camp for the 2021 season and the quarterback competition between Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater will take center stage.

Every day.

Is this a familiar story? It sure is in Denver, where the Broncos have had an open competition in camp just about every season since Peyton Manning retired, except for last year where Lock was declared the starter early on.

Following the retirement of Manning, the Broncos used a first-round pick on Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, pegging him as the future of the team. That offseason, the team also traded for Mark Sanchez and they had seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian on the roster.

It was assumed that Sanchez would be the starter, allowing Lynch to ease into the position and Siemian would be a camp arm who would be lucky to make the roster. It went a little different than that.

Sanchez was terrible during the preseason and though few would admit it, Siemian easily looked like the best quarterback on the roster. He ended up winning the starting job and the Broncos pushed Sanchez away as fast as they got him.

Though the situation isn’t quite the same this offseason, Lock has the veteran Bridgewater behind him.

Lynch wasn’t supposed to be the starter as a rookie, but in his second year in 2017, the team clearly wanted him in that position. But it was Siemian who was still the better option and when your first-round pick can’t beat out your seventh-round pick, it’s a problem.

That was basically the end of Lynch’s short Denver career and the same could ring true for Lock.

Rest assured, the Broncos WANT Lock to win this job. Sure, Bridgewater is a serviceable starting quarterback, but he is there to be a backup and a guy Lock can sponge off of. The team, and its fans, should be rooting for Lock to win this job going away.

If it’s anything like the summer of 2017 when Lynch not only couldn’t outperform Siemian, the competition wasn’t really even close, then Lock’s career will go the way of Lynch’s.

And where is Lynch now? Well, he’s in the CFL, and it’s questionable how long that experiment will last.

Drew Lock must win the competition going away

Lock has had a tumultuous offseason unless he just doesn’t read or listen to the news.

Not only did the team bring in a veteran to compete with him for the job, but he’s had to deal with the endless rumors of Aaron Rodgers possibly being traded by the Green Bay Packers. And it’s not like he was on solid ground to begin with.

The Broncos didn’t use a first-round pick on Lock, but he is still the closest thing the team currently has to a “quarterback of the future”. As such, he needs to win this job and he needs to do so convincingly.

Before the first preseason game, the coaching staff needs to already be convinced that he is the right guy and start planning that way. The longer it goes, the longer Lock lets Bridgewater hang around, the closer he becomes to turning into Lynch.

If Bridgewater wins the starting job, then the Broncos are probably a Wild Card team at absolute best and if they are a team that misses the playoffs again, Vic Fangio and the coaching staff will almost certainly be out. In addition, the team will be looking to use another first-round pick on a quarterback.

So basically, the same cycle that has continued to repeat itself since Manning hung up the cleats.