Denver Broncos new QB coach talks up Drew Lock’s tools

Russell Wilson QB rankings; Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock (3) scrambles under pressure from Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Michael Danna (51) in the fourth quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Russell Wilson QB rankings; Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock (3) scrambles under pressure from Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Michael Danna (51) in the fourth quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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New Denver Broncos QB coach and passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak had some good things to say about Drew Lock in a recent interview.

Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock has not done enough since coming into the league in 2019 to deserve to be the unquestioned starting quarterback in Denver moving forward.

His decision-making has been poor at times and his play has been far too streaky to sustain any kind of success in the NFL.

With that being said, it’s not really debatable at this point that the previous coaching staff in Denver did no favors for Drew Lock in terms of his overall development as a player.

There’s a new staff now with the Denver Broncos, led by former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett will be calling the plays for the Broncos’ offense, but his system as a whole will be very collaborative.

Klint Kubiak shares his thoughts on Denver Broncos QB Drew Lock

Hackett has brought in former Packers tight ends coach Justin Outten as his offensive coordinator and he also hired former Vikings offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as the team’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

Obviously being that Kubiak is the son of former Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak, many fans in Broncos Country were excited about that move.

But Klint has done well to separate himself from dad in recent years. Gary was obviously also with the Vikings for a brief time, but Klint has branched off and is no longer working in the shadow of his father.

In a recent interview with the Denver Broncos’ media team, Kubiak had some intriguing things to say about Drew Lock.

"Obviously, Drew Lock’s got a lot of talent so I know he’s been in and out of the lineup but I think just from evaluating him from the Draft, really like the tools that he had to work with…Just evaluated Drew very hard coming out of the Draft. It’s really hard to find guys with that type of arm strength paired with that athleticism. He’s very blessed in that regard. Just look forward to getting to know him more and working with him and us building a relationship.Broncos QB coach Klint Kubiak"

It’s important to note that Kubiak was not prompted initially about Lock, but the second half of that statement came after he was asked specifically about Drew.

When Kubiak was hired by the Minnesota Vikings back in 2019 was also when Lock was coming out of Missouri and the Vikings were one of the teams (along with the Packers, if you’ll recall) that were rumored to be interested in taking him.

The Vikings were only in year two of the Kirk Cousins era at the time, so they ultimately passed on Lock and other QBs at the top of that class, but you always want to evaluate quarterbacks coming out because of the importance of that position.

The fact that Kubiak talked up Lock not long after Mike Klis tweeted this is really something…

What’s being said about Lock behind the scenes? At this point, that’s anybody’s guess.

Again, I’ve said this before and will continue to hammer this point into the ground — we will discuss all of the millions (seemingly) of quarterback scenarios in the 2022 NFL offseason, but at the end of the day, fans have to remember that there is a path to Drew Lock among those possibilities.

It may not be the Broncos’ preferred path, but if the team is unable to get Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson in a trade, it wouldn’t be the worst idea for George Paton to punt the QB situation one more year down the road.

He doesn’t have to make a long-term decision at the position he’s not in love with, nor should he.

The Broncos will want to do everything they possibly can to get out of quarterback purgatory. Lock making a leap in his fourth NFL season would be bordering on unprecedented in the NFL but he’s still a young guy with room to grow.

He might wind up playing much better football in Hackett’s offense, similar to what we saw with him in the Rich Scangarello offense back in 2019.