Last Saturday, after Broncos quarterbacks Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater combined to complete 12 of 15 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-6 rout of the Minnesota Vikings, coach Vic Fangio appeared thrilled and relieved.
Thrilled because he said it “validated” his camp-long analysis that Lock and Bridgewater were “even-steven.” And relieved because any notion he would have to pick a Week 1 starter by default was eliminated.
Fangio hopes for similar results — and a similarly good problem — when Quarterback Competition 2021 rolls into Seattle for the Broncos’ second preseason game (Saturday, 8 p.m.).
On Wednesday, Fangio said he was “pretty (darn) close to a decision. But we’ve got more information coming.”
That information will be gleaned against the Seahawks. Can Bridgewater take advantage of starting the game like Lock did last week? Can Lock build off the things he did against the Vikings? Will the competition end late Saturday night?
Following 17 practices and one preseason game, here is a review of the Broncos’ quarterback scenarios:
Scenario 1: Fangio remains undecided.
Likely.
Fangio has nothing to gain by stalling an announcement. The distribution of first-team snaps remains mostly even save for an extended two-minute drive where the quarterback stacks up first downs and thus, stays on the field.
At the start of training camp, the assumption was Lock would need to significantly out-play Bridgewater to win the job. That hasn’t happened, but Lock’s ability to push the football down the field has been the biggest difference and could be the determining factor.
“He just needs to play well and continue on the right path,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said of Lock. “We’ve seen the improvement. We’ve seen a young player, in my opinion, get better with an offseason and now a training camp.”
Scenario 2: A decision hasn’t been announced for competitive reasons.
Doubtful.
This isn’t college football, where practices are locked down, the players’ social media accounts are muzzled and there is no preseason game tape for opponents to analyze.
We don’t expect Fangio to keep this a secret all the way up to 90 minutes prior to the opener. It would give the Broncos the surprise element (doubling the Giants’ preparation time), but would be counterproductive because it would be a self-created distraction.
If Fangio gets through this game and announces his decision Monday, the starter would have a minimum of 10 practices with the first-team offensive line before the opener.
Would Fangio extend this competition to next Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams? Maybe — he said he “would imagine,” Lock and Bridgewater face the Rams.
Scenario 3: Lock and Bridgewater are tied.
Possible.
Talk about a contrast in styles. About the only similarity is they both throw right-handed.
Bridgewater will chip his way down the field with a precision passing game (quick slants, crossers and out routes) that is more efficient than flashy. Albeit a toned-down version, Lock has the arm strength edge and can stretch the field vertically with go and deep corner routes.
Lock took advantage of his start and now arrives Bridgewater’s turn.
“A decision will be made and we’ll go forward,” Bridgewater said. “Itap going to be a decision that we feel is best for this team. Right now, all I can focus on is continuing to get better as a player every day.”
Scenario 4: Fangio is leaning toward Lock or Bridgewater.
Plausible.
We doubt Fangio has a white-board in his second floor office at the Broncos’ facility listing the daily winner of the quarterback battle. But there is no doubt the coaches and personnel staff dig into the numbers each day after practice.
One possible rationalization: Fangio sees Lock and Bridgewater pushing each other to a new level of performance that will benefit the Broncos when they try and avoid starts like 0-4 in 2019 and 0-3 last year.
“Honestly, itap made me way better,” Bridgewater said of the internal competition.
Regardless of when a decision is made, the Broncos want to be thrilled again by the quarterbacks’ play.
“You just want to keep that momentum going,” Bridgewater said. “As we know, itap hard to win in this league. Moving forward and going into this game, we want to keep scoring, finish drives in the red zone and try to get points.”
