Broncos trade up to select Missouri QB Lock
Drew Lock has ideal size and athleticism and speed with a big-time arm and a smooth delivery. (1:03)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos took a pass on the quarterbacks Thursday night in the first round of the NFL draft but didn’t wait long in the second round Friday night to dive in on this year’s class of passers.
The Broncos used the 10th pick of the second round (the 42nd pick of the draft) to select Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, who started games in all four of his seasons with the Tigers.
Denver moved up to select Lock, trading picks 52, 125 and 182 to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 42nd pick, after taking Kansas State offensive lineman Dalton Risner with the 41st pick.
Lock was the fourth quarterback to be selected in the draft. Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins were all selected in the first round.
Lock becomes the sixth quarterback John Elway has selected in his tenure as the Broncos’ top football executive and the highest Elway has selected one since Paxton Lynch was the team’s first-round pick in 2016.
None of the previous five quarterbacks Elway selected is currently on the roster, after both Lynch and Chad Kelly were waived last season.
The Broncos are in position to give Lock, who topped a 60 percent completion rate in just one of his seasons with the Tigers, at least some time to learn. The team traded for Joe Flacco earlier this offseason, and both Elway and coach Vic Fangio have said they consider Flacco the team’s starter for the coming season.
Elway tweeted after selecting Lock that the rookie will “learn from Joe and compete for the backup role.”
What you need to know from Rounds 1-3:
• DraftCast: Live pick-by-pick analysis »
• Team-by-team coverage » | Pros, cons »
• Best available prospects » | Full order »
• More NFL draft coverage »
Flacco has been adamant that he doesn’t see a repeat happening of his 2018 season with the Baltimore Ravens, when he was eventually replaced by a first-round rookie in Lamar Jackson.
Flacco was asked at the team’s minicamp last week what he would think if the Broncos used a prime pick on a quarterback.
“If we do, that’s completely out of my control,” Flacco said. “I’m going to go out here and compete. He’s going to have to come out here and be on the field with me every day, too, and I’m ready for that.”
The Broncos sent a fourth-round pick to the Ravens earlier this offseason to acquire Flacco after the one-year audition of Case Keenum didn’t go as well as the team had hoped in a 6-10 meltdown. Flacco is now in line to be the fifth quarterback to start a regular-season game for the team since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 season.
“I think I had a pretty good outlook on it last year,” Flacco said last week. “I want to get this team to be the best it is with me at the quarterback position; obviously, that’s not of the most importance to draft a quarterback.
“I don’t really care if they take a quarterback or not. … The only thing I care about is, like I said, I want this team to be as good as it can with me at quarterback. So if we feel like as a team, as an organization, we can add value to our team with the 10th pick [in the first round], then I’m all for getting a guy who can add value to the team with me as the understood quarterback.”
The Broncos had Lock, Haskins, Murray and Jones in Denver for pre-draft visits in recent weeks.