ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —Drew Lock was drafted after quarterbacks Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins, but John Elway said Friday that Lock was always the top quarterback on the Broncos' draft board.

"Yeah, he was," Elway said. "When he kept falling, we just kept on it. Then we he got into the second round, and where we were today, we thought that it was important for us. With the extra ammo that we were able to pick up yesterday from Pittsburgh, it allowed us to move around a little bit and move up."

The Broncos selected Lock with the 42nd-overall pick after sending the 52nd-, 125th- and 182nd-overall picks to the Bengals to move up.

Elway said the Broncos felt they needed to move past the Dolphins — who held the 48th-overall pick — in order to ensure they could get Lock.

"Miami was in front of us, and I'd heard some other teams [were interested]," Elway said. "We didn't know if he was going to get by the Raiders. There's a lot scuttlebutt out there. Plus, with Miami in front of us, we thought that that was one we had to get in front of. Just started at the top, and we were able to get a deal done with Cincinnati, so it worked out very well."

In Lock, Elway said the Broncos see a player that has "a ton of talent" but will need time to work on technique, accuracy and playing under center.

That's why Elway emphasized that Lock would compete for the backup job and Flacco would be the unquestioned starter.

"When we look at it, we're hoping Drew is the future," Elway said. "But Joe is the starter. He's going to be the starter. … We look at it as a Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers-type situation. He's going to have time to sit and watch Joe and take his time and learn and continue to get better. We feel we're in a good situation there."

Lock should be helped, in part, by not facing the expectations that come with being a first-round pick.

"I'm hoping that it allows us to let him grow and the expectations [will] not [be] as high as it would be as a top-10 pick," Elway said. "That's what he needs. He's going to need that time and the patience and continue to work with it and be able to watch Joe and how Joe works. Joe's [been at] a very high level for a very long time.

"He's got a great guy to follow and watch and learn see how it's done."