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The Seattle Seahawks entered 2021 with a top-ten quarterback in the eyes of most. They'll be entering 2022 with a top-40 quarterback, at least, in the eyes of one NFL analyst. Speaking on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, NFL analyst Chris Simms explained why he ranked new Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock dead last in his top-40 quarterback rankings.
Put simply, he questioned the quarterback's decision-making and consistency. Here's how he put it:
“I like Drew Lock a lot. There's things I like about his game. First off, I mean, you and I have discussed him a lot through the years here. There's real talent to the player. There really is. He has the type of talent to be in the top 18, top 15. He really does. But playing the position, he's not great at it yet. That to me, the biggest reason he's at 40 is because he just, for lack of a better way to say it, he's not in the trust tree. You can't trust him."
He went on to say that he simply isn't able to trust him with the Seahawks or in Denver:
"You can't trust him with decision making and taking care of the football. And that's, to me, is the piece we're still missing with Drew Lock over aggressive decision making at times while you're fitting the ball down the field into that tight window. Take the underneath one. Some silly decisions with just being careless and turning the ball over that way."
He went on, explaining Lock's inconsistency:
"It's consistency [that] is the issue with Drew Lock. We see snippets, [and] I've seen snippets the last three years. 'Ooh, oh, well, it looks good.' But it just never quite gets there. And it's a little bit all over the place. When you break him down with decision making. Sometimes, inaccurate throws. You're too good to miss that throw. And then taking care of the football."
He conceded that Lock could jump in the rankings after a season with the Seahawks, but it will not be handed to him first:
"Certainly, I think, underneath all those aspects, is a guy that's got a higher ceiling than 40 for sure. But right now, I can't put them any higher than that, because I don't really know what to expect out of him when you get them on the field.”
Drew Lock's career before Seahawks trade
Drew Lock played three seasons with the Denver Broncos. Originally a second-round draft pick in 2019, the quarterback served as the second big swing at a quarterback in the NFL Draft by general manager John Elway. After sitting for much of his rookie season due to an injury sustained in the 2019 preseason, Lock hit the ground running.
In 2019, he threw for seven touchdowns and three interceptions in five games of action, going 4-1, per Pro Football Reference. The win streak convinced the team to give him the keys in 2020, but the team struggled on his watch, going 4-9. During 2020, Lock's young sheen wore down and eventually triggered a quarterback competition in 2022 between himself and Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater ultimately won the competition, effectively sealing the quarterback's fate in Denver. After the 2022 season, he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks as part of a trade package for Russell Wilson. Now it seems that the Broncos and Seahawks are lined up for a Freaky Friday season in which they get to walk a mile in each other's shoes at quarterback. Who will walk farther?
