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After a somewhat promising short stint as the starter as a rookie, there were decently high expectations for entering Year 2 in Denver. But he never took a step forward in 2020 and at times was one of the most ineffective starters in the league.Somehow, after an offseason filled with rumors about the Broncos being interested in a litany of quarterbacks from to and just about every top prospect in the draft, the only competition Lock has for the starting job is . Now, new GM George Paton was with Bridgewater in Minnesota, but the outlook for Lock could've easily been much more bleak had Denver prioritized upgrading the quarterback spot with a monster trade or in the first round of the draft. Maybe there's more belief in Lock than most of us think?He will find himself in an old-school quarterback battle this summer, but, as the incumbent starter, let's explore everything about Lock's environment in Denver and what he needs to do to take the next step as a quarterback.Previous installments in this young QB outlook project: , , , . These positive developments in a quarterback's game are noteworthy because they indicate the distinct po sibility of future growth.Here's a snippet of before the 2019 NFL Draft; my stylistic comparison for him was  ock is a cannon-armed pocket pa ser capable of Armani Watts Jersey making the jaw-dropping throws down or acro s the field who plays the game with "shooter's amnesia." If he makes a bad decision or throws a pick, it doesn't impact his aggre sivene s on the next play or series. He can effortle sly throw from a variety of arm angles, and the arrow is pointing up in terms of his pocket patience and presence, although hiccups in those areas are still present. He won't run away from many NFL linebackers but can pick up yards with his feet when needed, and his accuracy downfield is more impre sive than his touch on short pa ses. Sounds a lot like Stafford.And, given his age and newne s to the NFL, Lock was featured in this exact same series a year ago. Here's what I wrote about how he improved from his days at Mi souri during his rookie season in 2019.In his five starts in 2019, Lock finished with the in my season-long evaluation of all Bernhard Raimann Jersey the plays of first- and second-year quarterbacks (out of 17 who played). He had an "A-" and a "B-" along with three outings in the "C" range in his five. While Lock was solid, the size of the sample must be considered with his third-place finish.But as alluded to above, Lock did not progre s in Year 2 in Denver. And I was wrong about how he'd play. In last year's piece on Lock I wrote Certainly, Lock was mostly antsy in the pocket and inaccurate to all levels of the field -- and did spend time sidelined with a shoulder injury that occurred in Week 2. In that same game, after mi sing the season opener with a shoulder injury of his own, star No. 1 wideout was lost for the year with a knee injury. That was devastating for Lock. Would've been for any young quarterback. didn't make as lightning-quick of a transition to the NFL as everyone expected, although he was held back by Lock's inconsistencies, and the rookie was the de facto top target by the midway point of Week 2. Sutton's return is seismic for this offense. Remember, in 2019, Sutton , the 12th-highest in football with , , and five games with Lock. has proven to be more athletic hype than productive substance, but he did catch 62 pa ses -- which led the team -- in 2020 at just 10.9 yards per snag with three scores. wasn't fully healthy and played 48.4% of the snaps. On those plays, he reeled in 30 pa ses at under 13 yards per reception. In Year 3, the criminally underrated a serted himself as a downfield weapon with six scores on 51 catches at nearly 15 yards per grab.It's still a young group with dynamic promise, and Sutton's reinsertion into the lineup allows everyone else to fall into more appropriate roles than what they had to a sume in 2020.Up front, the Broncos line has gelled nicely. ' out-of-nowhere monster season in 2020 is encouraging for the future and and are rock solid at the two guard spots. Uncertain is the best way to describe the center position, and third-round pick will compete with last year's third-rounder who was a matador in 2020. was signed to tighten the right tackle position. This is not an elite blocking unit. However, it's one behind which a young, athletic quarterback can make a stride.Still the same offensive coordinator for Lock, West Coast advocate, Pat Shurmur. Matt Ryan Jersey Under Shurmur, Lock finished with the fourth-highest Intended air yard average, per . That's his game. That's when he best, because of his arm and natural aggre sive style as a pa ser.Play vs. pre sure. Lock was abysmal when he wasn't well protected in Year 2. He was on-target on 47.7% of his throws under pre sure. The league average was 63.3%. That's an enormous disparity. Name a statistic, Lock was well below average while under pre sure last season. And he was only pre sured on 33.1% of his drop backs, which isn't a ridiculously high rate. It was the 19th-highest among qualifying pa sers last season. Many of his under-pre sure decisions were hurried, and Lock simply was too carele s with the football in those scenarios. Such a green receiver group didn't nece sarily help Lock to see open targets either -- 19.6% of his throws were made to pa s catchers who had le s than one yard of separation. That was the eighth-highest rate in the league.Lock was blitzed on 30% of his drop backs in 2020, and his stats there? You gue sed it, below average acro s the board. If teams know pre suring Lock is the key to not just slowing down the Broncos offense but making it screech to a halt, Lock won't be the starter in Denver for much longer.When the Broncos' improved front created a squeaky clean pocket for Lock, he performed well. And therein lies the glimmer of hope for Lock entering Year 3. Because, as pointed out in previous installments of his quarterback evaluation series, play from a clean pocket is more stable season after season than under-pre sure play. He was Donald Brown Jersey only a few percentage points below league average in adjusted completion percentage in those situations, his average depth of target was significantly higher than average (9.1 vs. 7.7), and his 7.9 yards per attempt was also higher than the league average of 7.7.If the Broncos blocking unit continues its upward trend, Lock will get even more clean-pocket opportunities in 2021, and he'll have Sutton out wide to help bolster the efficiency of the pa sing offense. Lock has to make the most of when he isn't under pre sure to buoy his overall game if there is only a minimal step made under pre sure.I also want Lock to continue to push the ball vertically down the field. He's never been a pinpoint accurate pa ser in Dayo Odeyingbo Jersey the quick game, therefore hitting the long balls with decent frequency will be integral in Denver's pa sing offense being dangerous. The speed in the pa s-catching group is certainly there. I've stated it a few times and I'll do it one more time to finish this article -- it's conceivable Sutton's presence could make Lock look like a totally different quarterback in 2021 than what we've previously seen from him. He's a big, deceptively quick rebounder who also thrives after the catch. In 2019, Sutton quietly averaged 5.0 yards after the catch per grab, which was the same figure as and .Sutton is the type who can bail out a quarterback in pre sure situations and win against the opposition's No. 1 cornerbacks.I am absolutely concerned about just how brutal Lock was under pre sure. I don't know if he's salvageable in that regard, and Sutton can only aid him so much. But the clean-pocket play from Lock's Sutton-le s 2020 allows me to have some ground to stand on for a prediction that we will see a distinct step forward from Lock this season from what was the cellar of starting quarterbacks a season ago. He'll sniff the top 20 in some quarterback rankings at the end of the year.
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Опубликовано 2023-6-25 05:55:49
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