ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After posting a 4-1 record in his five starts at quarterback, it appears Drew Lock has done enough to earn the Broncos' starting job in 2020.
"I don't see any [other] options right now," President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway said Monday. "Obviously he finished and did a heck of a job and won four out of five games and played well, but he's still got a long way to go. He's still got a lot of work to do, but we're excited about where Drew is. Don't like to show our hand, but I think it's unrealistic to say we're going in a different direction."
Lock said Monday morning he had not heard official word from Elway or Head Coach Vic Fangio, but he said Thursday he was going to approach the offseason "like I'm the guy."
Elway's comments during his end-of-season press conference confirmed that Lock could take that approach.
"I think the one thing I have thought about is just being extremely happy that I can come in here and just put my face on it, put my stamp on it," Lock said Monday. "Be the guy. Talk to everybody like I'm the guy. Walk around this facility like I'm the guy. To where people can really start feeling me and who I am as a person, who I am as a leader for this team. It's just going to be really fun to not worry about all the other outside. When I got here, [it was], 'Joe [Flacco]'s the guy. Let him do his thing.' Whereas now, hopefully, when I come back, I can just be that face for everybody that they can come to and talk to."
Lock completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,020 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions in his five games. He posted an 89.7 quarterback rating and became just the third Broncos quarterback to win four of his first five career starts.
"For me, personally, just knowing that I can do it," said Lock when asked about his biggest takeaway from his starting stint. "You go 4-1 in the first five games. … Being able to come out of this with the confidence knowing that I can be the guy for the organization, I think that's my biggest takeaway."
President and CEO Joe Ellis said Lock has "infused some energy" into both the Broncos' organization and fan base and has given everyone something to look forward to as Denver heads into the offseason.
"[He] looked like he was having fun, happened to play pretty well," Ellis said Monday. "Showed signs of really having the potential to be a really, really good quarterback in this league. I think that gives fans and certainly gives the organization some optimism for the future. No question about that. I was pleased to hear yesterday when he said that he was going to work with John [Elway], work with Peyton [Manning] in the offseason. You can see he's got some really good tools athletically and everything else to be a great quarterback. It's a hard position in this league. It's the most important position in sports and requires a lot of hard work, a lot of study if you want to master your craft and be great at it. If he wants to do that, I think he can."
