8 potential starters at QB for Broncos after the Senior Bowl
The Denver Broncos have one month until free agency and just over two months before the 2022 NFL Draft. What are the team’s options to start at QB?
For all but two teams, the NFL offseason is fully underway. The Denver Broncos have a new head coach in former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, and the next major decision by the team is going to be who Hackett is coaching at the quarterback position for 2022 and beyond.
With the 2022 Senior Bowl now in the rearview mirror, we can look ahead at a full slate of options available to Broncos general manager George Paton. At least, we assume all of these are “available” to him, to varying degrees.
What are the Denver Broncos’ top eight starting QB options for the 2022 season with free agency just over a month away and no dominoes yet to really fall? Let’s take a look, in no particular order…
Denver Broncos 2022 QB option No. 1: Drew Lock
Yes, Broncos Country, I think this option needs to be mentioned.
Although we have yet to see a fun behind-the-scenes video of a phone conversation between Nathaniel Hackett and Drew Lock, I think there’s a possibility of no. 3 being under center for the Denver Broncos in 2022.
Is that the team’s “Plan A”?
Not likely.
Lock has been with the Broncos for three years now and it’s abundantly clear that former head coach Vic Fangio never had Lock’s back and we can assume he was probably never really interested in having Lock play in the first place.
There’s ample evidence of that from the outside looking in, but we’ll probably never know for certain.
Fangio stuck with Joe Flacco for far too long in 2019, then turned to Brandon Allen when Lock was healthy enough to play.
The decision to play Teddy Bridgewater in 2021 in what was deemed a very close competition is all we need to know about what the previous coaching regime thought of Drew Lock, who had his share of issues in 2020 when he was the full-time starter.
If coaching was a primary issue for Lock, perhaps the new regime will be willing to give Lock another shot and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a coaching staff that actually has his back and is able to put him in position to succeed.
Even if Lock is only the backup in 2022, I think he will be back in Denver, but there is a path in the 2022 offseason where Lock could wind up as the day one starter as well.