Giants QB Drew Lock Earns Respectable Ranking in New Backup Quarterback Ranking

Lock can win a team games, that is if his decision-making is on point.

Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock (2) looks on prior to the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. / rich barnes-usa today sports

When the New York Giants were looking for a backup quarterback this past offseason, one of the key criteria important to general manager Joe Schoen was to find someone who could come in and win games for the team if called upon.

After not being able to come to an agreement to bring Tyrod Taylor back, the Giants landed Drew Lock, the former second round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2019 who was traded to Seattle in 2022 and served as backup to Geno Smith last season.  Lock has won nine games as a starting quarterback (out of 23), and was deemed the best fit for the Giants needs behind starter Daniel Jones.

In a new ranking report by Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton in which the league’s backup quarterbacks are organized into six tiers reflecting their competence level, Lock landed in Tier 3, which is characterized as quarterbacks who “can command a huddle, but they will frustrate you with repeated errors or limitations beyond their control.”

This is a fair placement for Lock, whom as Moton points out, has “thrown for nearly the same number of touchdowns (21) and interceptions (20).” Lock has historically shown himself to be faster at post snap processing, but his decision making has been questionable.

Although he’s appeared in just one preseason game for the Giants, that being the first one against the Detroit Lions, fans got a look at why Lock can sometimes be such a frustrating quarterback.

In that game, Lock was not sharp or decisive. He held onto the ball, he had only an average feel for the pass rush, and he threw into traffic multiple times. 

His interception was a short middle throw where he completely lost track of the inside backer in that area, a bad interception. And the sack he took in which he injured the hip may have been partly his fault when he wandered to his right instead of stepping up into the pocket, his wandering allowing the backside edge rusher to loop around and deliver the blow from behind.

He finished 4 of 10 for 17 yards and one interception in that game. Admittedly it’s a small sample size of his time so far with the Giants, but it’s also a perfect example of why Lock’s placement in Tier 3 by Moton is spot on.

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