The Denver Broncos quarterback search may not be a priority after all. For weeks, all the whispers were about Denver still being on a never-ending search for their perfect quarterback. Now it’s more than possible they will put that on the back burner, to take care of another position that has just as many issues.
Denver Broncos May Not Be Looking For A New Quarterback
ESPN’s Todd McShay talks a lot of sense. Understandably, he has stated that “Denver is one of the more difficult teams to predict.” As Broncos beat reporter Aric DiLalla explains, it lies in McShay’s interpretation of the way Denver values their starting quarterback Drew Lock. His view is a partial contradiction to other analysts and even franchise management. “I don’t know that they’ve given up on Drew Lock. I think if they continue to put people around him and support him better, he can have a really successful career.”
Yet Denver Is Keeping Their Doors Open…
It’s no secret. General manager George Patton and head coach Vic Fangio have always been clear on where they stand. While they are happy to keep supporting Lock, they will keep bringing in competition for Lock.
The uncertainty over Lock is a product of his inconsistency. Excelling one week and making numerous mistakes the next. On four occasions, he recorded a quarterback rating above 90.0, his highest against the Carolina Panthers (149.5). He had three impressive games where he threw between two and four touchdowns and had few or no interceptions. There is a sliver of something there that indicates he can, with the right nurturing, play like a top quarterback. The rest of the season, however, was filled with errors. The question still remains, can Lock develop into a more consistent quarterback?
[pickup_prop id=”5400″]
Isn’t Cornerback A Bigger Need?
Amidst quarterback woes, it’s easy to forget that one of Denver’s most gaping needs lies at the cornerback position. When Chris Harris Jr. went to the Los Angeles Chargers, he left a large void that the Broncos still haven’t been able to fill. They tried replacing him with A.J. Bouye. The promise he showed early was riddled with injuries. And let’s remember he has to sit out two games at the start of the 2021 season, ending his six-game suspension.
Bryce Callahan could have been a top-ranked corner, but his foot injury in 2019 and 2020 ended that hope. Denver has since been on a rotation of their backups, with Michael Ojemuda being good enough to secure a starting position despite his knee injury. The position is still very much an issue.
While many were predicting that Denver pick quarterback Justin Fields (Ohio State) at ninth overall, others including McShay favored cornerback Patrick Surtain II (Alabama). It makes a lot sense to try to rebuild Denver’s defense into a top unit once again. The Broncos could do with a linebacker too. Meanwhile on offense, questions remain over the running back and right tackle positions.
With all the murkiness surrounding so many areas of this team, Denver is likely to keep us guessing till the moment they reveal who their first pick is. The good news is we don’t have much longer to wait.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’kD-uAhZDSKx_SOunpgpw_g’,sig:’d9-P2QFLcwAd6NgoMlkNOvyfhnwN87xyiOz8LA6hyg4=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’1294360558′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
