Drew Lock’s not the future of the quarterback position in Denver.
Sorry, fans, but all indications from the lack of practice (until this week) and the fact that Brandon Allen (who?) will start again this Sunday shows that Lock just isn’t the guy. If the Broncos thought Lock had a shot at being “the guy” they would be crazy not to play him the entirety of the second half of this lost season.
Instead, we’re still not sure when the Broncos will actually play Lock. Yes, team leader and flamboyant star Von Miller said Lock is “a star in the making” but that was more tongue-in-cheek than anything else. Don’t forget, Miller had praise for Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, too; he’s good at towing the company line.
And while all this mania surrounding Lock throwing an incomplete pass at practice has swirled around the Mile High City — like a cold wind blowing off the mountains — Broncos fans may have missed the truly biggest news of the week; Denver will be at the Colin Kaepernick workout.
If you haven’t heard, the NFL — which blackballed Kaepernick and kept him from playing on any team — has recently set up a workout in Atlanta which all NFL teams are invited to attend. And, according to Adam Schefter, the Broncos are one of 13 teams now expected to be there when the embattled former NFL star throws passes in an NFL stadium for the first time in years.
It all seems too good to be true for Kaepernick, the NFL setting up this open workout, with Hue Jackson leading it, and asking all the teams to attend.
It’s no secret that Kaepernick is a divisive figure after kneeling during the National Anthem starting in 2016. He was the leader of a movement in which NFL players showed their solidarity to one another and young, black America by kneeling to protest police brutality which has ravaged their communities. Stories of police officers shooting at and killing unarmed, young, black men have only continued, even since Kaepernick and others — like former Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall — knelt during the Anthem.
The matter only became a national story when President Donald Trump screamed “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired!”
Keep politics out of sports? Here, it’s impossible.
Because after Trump took that stand, half the country turned not only on Kaepernick, but the NFL, threatening to turn off their TVs. Of course, those threats were shallow, weak and not followed through on as the NFL has only become more popular over time.
But back to the center of the controversy, Kaepernick, who has been practicing throwing the football and working out for the last two and a half seasons.
He’s finally ready to put those skills on display in front of nearly half the league, even if the workout is scheduled for tomorrow, a Saturday when many of the top executives in the league will be preparing for their games on Sunday. Typically, workouts are scheduled for Tuesdays, in between games, so executives can attend and give them their full attention.
Alas, here’s his shot again.
And, if the Broncos are smart, they’ll sign him.
Siemian wasn’t the future, neither was Brock Osweiler or Lynch. Those were all John Elway drafted quarterbacks. Elway couldn’t right the ship with the signing of Case Keenum nor could he with Joe Flacco this year. And, the odds that Lock is a flop like the other Elway draftees is a lot higher than the odds he becomes the starter one day.
Kaepernick has everything the Broncos need in a quarterback. He’s big (6’4″ and 225 pounds), athletic and has a solid arm. He’s also experienced, playing six years for the San Francisco 49ers before being blackballed. In fact, Kaepernick led his team to the Super Bowl in 2012, losing by three points to the Baltimore Ravens, and the Niners were in the NFC Championship Game the next year, too.
Kaepernick is a winner, a gifted athlete as a dual-threat quarterback who helped create the Pistol offense, utilizing the read-option at Nevada and then brought it to the NFL.
If the price is right, the Broncos should sign Kapernick and give him playing time this year. The Broncos currently have Allen (1 start) Lock and Brett Rypien (zero starts) on their roster. Bringing in Kaepernick would give Denver a 69-game starter, a locker room morale boost and an athlete at the quarterback position the franchise has never seen before.
Some question whether or not Kaepernick can still play after such a long time away. Teddy Bridgewater injured his knee so badly he thought he would lose his leg and spent nearly the same amount of time away from the NFL. But, after battling to come back, has excelled this year.
It can happen.
Maybe the biggest point everyone misses about Colin Kaepernick, no matter your politics, is how difficult it is to find legitimate quarterbacks in this world. One only has to remember how many times John Elway has failed over the last decade to realize that legitimate, starting quarterbacks don’t appear out of nowhere.
Kaep is just that, a legit starter, and the Broncos would be smart to sign him and get him going immediately.
