Dalton Risner Goes to Bat for Drew Lock: 'That’s a Great QB Right There'

Dalton Risner threw his support behind Drew Lock in the wake of another uneven performance from the second-year QB.

Drew Lock has been under fire since Week 2. The Denver Broncos' second-year quarterback suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder in Week 2 at Pittsburgh, which opened him up to skepticism at best, and criticism at worst. 

The questions then were: is Lock injury prone? Can his body hold up to the NFL wear-and-tear? 

It cost Lock most of that Steelers game and the Broncos' next two matchups but he returned to the starting lineup in Week 6, defeating the New England Patriots and becoming the youngest QB to win in Gillette Stadium. Ever. 

That's good, right? Not according to the tropes. The Broncos beat the Patriots 18-12, failing to score a touchdown. Nevermind the four touchdown passes Lock's receivers dropped in-game; the bottom line was, according to his detractors and skeptics, he couldn't score. 

Fast forward to Week 7 and Lock and the Broncos get blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs in the snow in Denver. It was only the second game of Lock's entire career as a football player in which he played in the snow (the first was last year at Kansas City) and both he and the entire offense was out of rhythm. 

Week 8 rolls around and Lock struggles mightily through three quarters vs. the Chargers, getting in a 21-point hole. The kid stormed back, throwing three fourth-quarter touchdown passes and leading the Broncos to a one-point victory over their AFC West foe. Obviously, the comeback win did nothing to dissuade the Lock haters. 

Week 9 was a similar blueprint as the previous game, with Lock failing to find the end zone until the fourth quarter. Despite once again putting three touchdowns on the board in the final frame, the Broncos came up short in Atlanta. Despite the frustrations and the offensive line's inability to protect or open up running lanes in Mercedez-Benz Stadium, Lock fell on the sword post-game, unwilling to point the finger. 

"Quite honestly, I'm way more than willing to take the blame every single Sunday," Lock said in Atlanta. "I should, I'm the guy who has the ball in his hand every play."

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It's been a 'one step forward, two steps back' type of season for Lock. Along the way, the Broncos' offensive line hasn't protected well or blocked well for the ground game, while coordinator Pat Shurmur has struggled to figure out how to get his young QB clicking early on in games. 

That sets the stage for where things stand now with regard to Lock and the 3-5 Broncos at the midway point of the season. The floodlights are on bright, looking for any cracks in the Lock facade or a hole in the boat. 

Left guard Dalton Risner isn't having any of it and appreciates his QB's toughness and willingness to absorb all the fiery darts of the outside criticism. 

“That’s a great quarterback right there and who Drew is as a person," Risner said on Tuesday. "I’d do the same thing for him... I have a lot of respect for Drew."

Lock and Risner came in together. Risner was Denver's No. 41 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft while Lock was No. 42. The two roomed together during rookie mini-camp and training camp. 

Risner has been there every step of the way to see all of Lock's setbacks and triumphs. When Lock sprained the thumb on his throwing hand in Denver's third preseason game last year, which led to a 12-week exile on injured reserve, while Risner was plugged into the starting lineup immediately at left guard, the offensive lineman saw how the young signal-caller dedicated himself to improving while he healed up. 

Lock went straight from IR to the starting lineup in Week 13 and led the Broncos to a 4-1 finish. Risner was there by his side, blocking away. 

Risner himself hasn't had a great second season. But he's been right alongside Lock as the second-year QB has tried to navigate a new offensive system, a new play-caller and position coach, new supporting cast members, another injury, and the frustrations of not delivering wins consistently for the team and its fans. 

Through it all, Risner has been impressed by Lock. He's seen a lot of growth, in many different areas, some tangible and some intangible, from Lock. 

“Drew has grown so much just from last year when he got those five games at the end of the year and going into this year," Risner said on Tuesday. "Just like any player on the team he has stuff to work on, but Drew keeps calm and collected. He’s very mature on the football field, I would tell you guys that."

Lock's most vocal media critic of late is the flip-flopping Colin Cowherd, who went from calling Lock a "huge talent" in June, and predicting he'd be the NFL's Year 2 "pop" quarterback to chiding the Broncos' signal-caller for celebrating touchdowns in the fourth quarter of Week 8's wild, romping comeback. Cowherd's refrain, to paraphrase, is that he doesn't want his QBs to be emotional, or too high, too low. He wants his QBs to be "neutral."  

"I’m a very passionate, emotional football player—as are a lot of guys—not in a negative way but in a very emotional way," Risner said. "What I respect about Drew is he doesn’t let his emotions get the best of him and at quarterback, I think that’s extremely important. He maintains his composure and he does a really good job out there on the field. So, I’m really proud of him.”

So much for Cowherd's incoherent thesis. 

There have been frustrations within the Broncos' locker room in recent weeks. But if Risner's remarks tell fans anything, it's that Lock still has the faith, support, and respect of his teammates. 

Lock is still finding his way as an NFL QB. From the outside looking in, the majority opinion seems to be that Lock isn't the Broncos' long-term answer and that he's already proven that he's not 'the guy'. Inside the building — as Risner's remarks illustrate — the view and paradigm couldn't be more polar opposite. 

That doesn't mean anyone at Broncos HQ is happy with losing or is satisfied with Lock's uneven play. It only means that his teammates, coaches, and likely the front office, too, recognize that it's all a process, and entering his 11th start as a pro, Lock is still very early in the business of navigating it. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.