In looking back at the 2019 season, we will be handing out grades this offseason for each of the positional units of the Denver Broncos. We’ll jump right in with the position everyone thinks of first: quarterback.
Most teams in the league hope to start one quarterback all season and if not, the hope is that there is a capable backup sitting on the bench. In the case of the Broncos, the team used three different quarterbacks in 2019.
We will take a look at each of them individually, handing out a grade for each player and that will lead to a collective grade for the positional group.
Joe Flacco
Stats: 171-of-262 passing (65.3 percent), 1,822 yards, 6 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 85.1 QB rating
During the offseason, the Broncos were looking to move on from Case Keenum, who had just posted a lackluster 2018 season. The answer to how they would do that came in March when the team traded for Flacco.
Ousted as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens by the fast-rising Lamar Jackson, Flacco, a Super-Bowl winning quarterback, needed a change of scenery. Denver seemed to be a logical place for him to renew his career, but if you instantly hated this move, you and I have something in common.
Flacco’s best days are behind him, regardless of what John Elway may think, but the reason he was so bad for the Broncos was that he is just not a good fit for the offense Rich Scangarello wanted to install.
The offense sputtered with Flacco at the helm and that was evident even in the preseason. But if you want an idea of just how bad he was, go back and watch the Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Grade: D
Brandon Allen
Stats: 39-of-84 passing (46.4 percent), 515 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 68.3 QB rating
Allen started three games for the Broncos and that was probably too many. For some reason, the team was hesitant to go with its second-round pick, Drew Lock.
Instead, Allen, a former sixth-round pick playing for his third different team came in and won a game against the Cleveland Browns and suddenly, fans were talking about how he could be the starter going forward and into the future.
Really?
That’s just how hungry Broncos Country is for a quarterback it can believe in, but Allen is a competent backup quarterback at absolute best.
He did the best he could given the circumstances but the fact that he was the starter for three games was a poor decision by the coaching staff. That’s not on Allen, but if he was a better quarterback when he played, it might not have been a poor decision.
The two go hand in hand.
Grade: C-
Drew Lock
Stats: 100-of-156 passing (64.1 percent), 1,020 yards, 7 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 89.7 QB rating
By far the most positive aspect of the entire 2019 season was the play of the rookie Lock, who started the team’s final five games and won four of them. It’s hard not to wonder what the team could have done this season if it turned to him sooner.
Lock was fantastic when he played, showing many positive signs from a player so young and with so little playing time. He showed off his arm strength and showed he can throw the ball inside the pocket, outside the pocket, on the run and from more than one angle.
That is what the game as it is played today calls for from its best quarterbacks.
That’s not to say that Lock is the next Patrick Mahomes, as he had his growing pains and fair share of bad throws. But the team just played so much better with Lock on the field and the way he moved the offense compared to Flacco and Allen was undeniable.
For only playing in five games, he played quite well.
Grade: A-
Overall grade
It’s unfortunate that the Broncos stuck with the combination of Flacco and Allen for three-fourths of the season. Granted, Lock did start the season on injured reserve but he could have played sooner than he did.
When Lock made his first start against the Oakland Raiders, Vic Fangio waited until basically the day of the game to announce that. When asked about the decision to wait so long, Fangio described it as “silly games.”
Whatever.
What was clear was that Lock was the best quarterback for the offense in Denver and sure, putting him in sooner he may have taken some more licks and went through some more hardships, but the best players turn that on-field experience into a positive.
It’s easily arguable that the Broncos would have won more games with Lock playing sooner, even two weeks sooner than he did.
Lock was fantastic. Flacco and Allen were basically duds.
Grade: C+
