Nathaniel Hackett's QB Qualities Bad News for Drew Lock

Nathaniel Hackett revealed his quarterback qualities at the NFL Combine, which is bad news for Denver's current signal-callers.

The NFL Scouting Combine is upon us, which means press conferences from general managers and head coaches to kick things off. Denver Broncos GM George Paton was up first, and he talked about being aggressive at the quarterback position because the team has to upgrade the position. 

The Broncos know the play under center hasn't been good enough and have to find better, but that's easier said than done. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett followed and he immediately had to dodge an Aaron Rodgers question. 

Rodgers is still under contract with Green Bay, so an outside coach like Hackett, can't technically speak on the matter until and unless he makes himself available via trade. Everything points to Rodgers staying in Green Bay, but it's up in the air until he says for sure. 

However, Hackett talked about another quarterback topic, which was enlightening on how he views things at the position. He highlighted three key qualities that he values most in a quarterback.

Suffice to say, it doesn't bode well for Drew Lock, the only quarterback currently under contract in Denver, nor for the 2022 QB draft class.

“For a quarterback, one important thing is they have to be tough," Hackett said on Tuesday. "They have to be tough mentally and physically. The stresses they go through just being able to stand in front of so many different people. Then you look at the physical aspect of it and to be able to take hits. Even if it’s perfect, you’re going to be hit. It’s a long season. It’s that form of toughness and intelligence, and the ability to be able to call a play. We have long play calls. Then to be able to understand the different defenses you’re going to get [in order to get] yourself in a perfect play. Then, accuracy. Those are kind of the three top ones, and then if you’re lucky, you get an athletic guy, too. Those are the four things that we look for in a quarterback with a lot of other things that kind of go into it.”

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While Lock has the physical toughness to take those hits, he has dealt with multiple injuries. In addition, his mental toughness, to get over mistakes, the intelligence to avoid faux pas, and his accuracy have all been consistent problems with Lock's game. 

So while Lock has improved, his development hasn't gone anywhere near what people hoped when he was drafted. Instead, he has regressed more than he has progressed. 

While Lock's three starts to end the 2021 season were not as statistically bad as the 2020 season, he still struggled in key areas. One of the simplest plays for a quarterback is a run/pass option, as they only have to read one defender. 

Still, Lock failed every time, two of which turned into bad turnovers, an interception against the Las Angeles Chargers, and a fumble against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

If intelligence is a significant factor for a coach, it could be a stretch to look at those mistakes, among many others, and feel confident about Lock's football IQ. As far as mental toughness, Lock's hero-style quarterbacking can be problematic. 

During his time as a starter, Lock would often make a mistake and then try to make up for it by looking for the big play, only to make another, bigger mistake. Accuracy is probably behind intelligence for how bad Hackett's comments were for Lock. 

Lock has never been accurate with the football, completing 59.3% of his passes in his career, which is carried by his 64.1 completion percentage in his five starts as a rookie. Even with an adjusted completion percentage, Lock is at the bottom for quarterbacks in the NFL. 

What draws many fans to Lock is his deep-ball ability, but his accuracy on those deep balls has also been terrible. It's great to take shots, but you want accuracy from the quarterback to make those shots be a legit threat to the defense. 

During his 2020 and 2021 seasons, Lock was 25-of-92 on shots over 20 yards downfield and 28-of-103 in his career. The completion percentage, and adjusted completion percentage, were bottom-10 every year and bottom-5 in two of his three years. 

Now, Hackett did also say he is looking forward to working with Lock, but there has been enough said to read between the lines here and make some inferences. With Lock the only quarterback under contract, the coaches will be very cautious with what they have to say. 

After all, there is an avenue where the Broncos are stuck with Lock as the starting quarterback in 2022. Coach speak is a thing for a reason. 

Even though they aren't under contract at the moment, Hackett's remarks don't bode well for Teddy Bridgewater or Brett Rypien either. Both of them have intelligence, but questions about toughness and accuracy hurt them. With Rodgers looking like he will be back with Green Bay, that doesn't leave many options for the Broncos.

There are mid-level veterans like Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Tyrod Taylor, or Mitchell Trubisky. Unfortunately, all four of them don't check Hackett's QB boxes, and there are not many options that do this year. 

The Broncos would have to look at the draft, but none of the quarterbacks are the best fits even then. Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Sam Howell, and Kaleb Eleby are probably the best fits out of the draft class. Carson Strong raised concerns about his football intelligence at the Senior Bowl and has extensive injury concerns. With his accuracy, Desmond Ridder is all over the place, and Matt Corral has a few concerns to match those qualities. 

There is chatter Paton and  Hackett are hand-size truthers, which would rule out Pickett, even though he has multiple of the aforementioned QB qualities. Pickett is also older (will be 24 years old), and once you hit 23 at quarterback, you're basically what you will be. That is also a slight concern with Malik Willis, who will be turning 23 in May, while Howell and Eleby will only be 22. 

So what do the Broncos do at quarterback? Well, the team's best bet may be to start Lock and punt on 2022 in hopes of landing one of the coveted quarterbacks in the 2023 quarterback draft class. 

If that isn't in the cards for Paton and Hackett with new owners coming, then look for a mid-level vet, or a Day 2 rookie to compete for the starting job, and let Lock fight for a job.

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