Drew Lock Says he 'Learned More' in Year 1 With Seahawks
Whatever happened to Drew Lock? Lost in the shuffle of the Denver Broncos' tectonic offseason moves that saw Sean Payton arrive as head coach, along with multiple big-name free agents, was Lock quietly accepting a one-year, $4 million deal to return to the Seattle Seahawks.
Lock, of course, was dealt to Seattle in March of 2022 as one of three Broncos exchanged for Russell Wilson — along with a grip of first and second-round draft picks. Pitted in yet another open competition for a starting job, Broncos fans who wished Lock the best liked his odds of vanquishing Geno Smith in Seattle.
Alas for Lock, that's not how it shook out. With the misfortune of catching COVID at the penultimate worst possible moment in his competition, Lock wasn't able to edge out Smith. The Seahawks obviously made the right QB decision, as Smith went on to produce the best year of his career and earned a Pro Bowl selection.
Still, head coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks weren't ready to give up on Lock. After he was brought back on that one-year deal, Lock said something noteworthy that some Broncos fans found interesting.
“I feel like I learned more in this last year,” Lock said back in March via Seattle's team site. “I didn’t play, but I learned so much from being with Shane [Waldron], being with Pete, hearing how they talk football, and situation football, and how to handle a locker room. Everything those guys taught me last year, again, I’m excited to be able to come back and be here for another year and learn more from them.”
Was the "learned more" comment a subtle jab at the Broncos? Maybe, but I doubt it was purposeful. The reality is Lock was mismanaged in Denver.
From Vic Fangio firing the offensive coordinator that extracted quality play from him as a rookie (Rich Scangarello) to the Teddy Bridgewater fiasco and saddling him with the utterly uninspired and out-of-ideas Pat Shurmur, many coaches had dirt on their hands when it came to Lock's failure to launch. That's not to absolve Lock of complicity. But it's the truth.
Lock believes the Seahawks are "building something" and wanted to remain a part of it. Seahawks GM John Schneider had nothing but praise for the former Broncos second-round pick out of Missouri.
"What an awesome guy," Schneider said after re-signing Lock. "Everything he's been through—last year we talked about it a bunch. Coming here, competing with Geno, getting COVID, really bad timing for him. (Preseason) Game 2 was going to be his game against Chicago, then he got really sick, then he still didn't have his legs against Dallas. So I'm just really excited. Really happy for him."
Perhaps Lock is better suited to being a backup. Then again, a minority of Broncos Country will always wonder if he woulda, coulda, shoulda been more had he benefited from competent coaching in Denver.
We might never know. But if any misfortune befalls Smith in Seattle next season, Lock will be the next man into the breach, where he'll be able to prove that what he learned in Seattle really was "more" than what the Broncos were able to teach him over his first three years.
For what it's worth, I wish the kid nothing but the best.
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